A New Look at Framlingham Bookshop

Hannah takes us on a tour of the recent revamp

We here at Framlingham Bookshop, like many others, are feeling the effects of the January blues… but fear not! As many of our regular customers have already noticed, we’ve combatted the season’s darkness and dreariness with a reshuffle of the bookshop - including a brand-new desk, lots more shelf space for books, more room for browsing and much appreciated leg space for the poor people behind the desk. Here you’ll find a run-down of our new and improved sections and where you can find them in the shop!

Starting at the entrance, our extensive poetry collection on the right and plays just beneath. We’ve continued to stock all our familiar favourites with lots of romantic poets, as well as a strong emphasis on modern poetry. Some notable works picked out by Chris currently stocked here include Kathleen Raine’s collections and The Auschwitz Poems ed. Adam A. Zych. Suzie is particularly fond of the Keats, but on a quiet day can be found sneaking a peek at the good copy of Seamus Heaney’s Opened Ground.

Moving clockwise around towards the window, we have freed up lots of floor space (primarily to warm up for a minute after walking in, given the current weather) and have a range of collectable children’s books, Penguin Classics, and picture books for our smaller customers. The boxes beneath the window also house our extensive collection of sheet music.

The few shelves to the right as you look inwards from here house the cookery section - very popular for winter warmers and always a great gift. The display books above these shelves include local bestseller Framlingham - A Portrait through Time by John Bridges, now exclusively sold at Framlingham Bookshop!

You’ll also notice the pots on display above the shelves - a proud stockist of Peter Grogan Ceramics, all of these pots are made in Suffolk, inspired by Suffolk and equally as beautiful as the land and seascapes they reflect.

From here, you’ll also be facing our extensive fiction section, organised A-Z by author, with paperbacks on the higher shelves and hardbacks lower down. A personal recommendation from this section is author Sally Rooney; her novels explore subjects like class, relationships and identity and are beautifully written in my opinion. A few of hers we have in stock currently include Normal People and Conversations with Friends.

Just the next section along, you’ll find the crime and thrillers, organised in the same fashion. Be sure to consult Suzie if you’re after a recommendation, as she’s certainly the expert in this department.

Moving clockwise down these shelves, you’ll find our brand-new section on the right, named ‘Sci-fi, fantasy and young adult’. Anything from coming-of-age romance to books on how to survive a Dalek can be found here, and it is one of my personal favourite sections in the shop. Just below it, our horror and ghost story shelf - if you’re after something to get your adrenaline going, you’ll find it here.

Down the steps (careful!), we have our classics section on the left, including Suzie’s own brilliant work on Jane Austen - What Would Jane Do? - as well as all the long-loved favourites and some slightly lesser-known canonical works.

Next, you’ll find our brand-new humour section, consisting of comic writing, satire, cartoons and all sorts else, ranging from light-hearted jokes to witty social commentary.

Below this, we have our writing and language and literary biography shelves. We have guides to writing and grammar as well as broader studies of language and literature, followed by the biographies and memoirs of writers themselves

Opposite these, we have our transport, natural history, gardening and environmental writing (with a little space for domestic pets of course). Non-fictional and informative, this section is great for a browse if you’re looking to spark a new interest or deepen your knowledge of the natural world (our natural history section is particularly extensive).

On the left just before the postcards, we have a special shelf for the antique and collectible books. If these are your forte, we have a great selection in shop as well as many more available online at www.framlinghambooks.co.uk (Online we trade as RightWayUp Books.) A particular first-edition gem is The History of Suffolk by J. J. Raven, published 1895 from the popular County Histories Series

On the back shelves, we have a range of non-fiction, sorted into psychology, philosophy, health and well-being, religion and spirituality and science. An accessible and wide-ranging collection, these shelves hold all manner of theology, factual writing, reflective work and historical and contemporary perspectives of the body and mind.

Moving clockwise, the next shelves on the left contain our extensive history section, organised chronologically from ancient history to the modern period, with both wider histories and specialist studies throughout.

Following this, we have our travel writing, separated into Suffolk and East Anglia; Great Britain Travel; and Worldwide Travel. If you’re looking for books dedicated to the local culture and landscapes, this is the section to browse and is one of the most popular for those visiting Framlingham. The GB and Worldwide travel shelves also hold an array of travel guides, place-based writing and travel narratives covering destinations across the globe.

The shelves directly opposite house the sections on culture, leisure and creative practice, including Art, Architecture and Design; Sports and Hobbies; and Film and Entertainment. From critical studies to more practical and recreational reading, this section spans a range of cultural analysis and practical interests - a great place to start if you’re looking for a new hobby.

The following shelves, moving towards the desk, contain our music section. Covering a wide array of artist biographies, genres and cultural and historical studies of music, this shelf has many gems, including our very own Chris’s book on Edward Elgar. You’ll also see our box of collectable comics hidden just to the right.

On the final shelves along this row, you’ll find our collection of Politics and Gender Studies works, examining political theory, contemporary politics, gender and social structures.

Finally, just below our desk, we’ve got our children’s novels. From Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree, this curated section is a great place for younger readers to have a browse and contains all the childhood staples.

I hope you enjoyed this written tour, and that it proves helpful for anyone visiting the shop.

As always, whoever is behind the desk will be happy to help!