“I’ve always loved stories,” says owner Georgia Duffy. “With the shop name, I really wanted to encapsulate what a bookshop actually is – it’s not just pieces of paper on shelves, they’re stories. I read Neil Gaiman’s lecture to the Reading Agency in which he talks about the importance of imagined things.” The bookshop went viral this year after tweeting that they’d only earned £12.34 that day. “I thought people should know that we weren’t fine, and our future’s not certain.” Since then, things have improved greatly, and Imagined Things recently celebrated its first birthday.
Top five sellers
•Only the Dead Malcolm Hollingdrake
•This Is Going to Hurt Adam Kay
•Notes on a Nervous Planet Matt Haig
•The Secret Life of Cows Rosamund Young
•Date with Death Julia Chapman
Five recommendations
•The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder Sarah J Harris
“The most unique mystery I have ever read, told from the point of view of Jasper, who has synaesthesia.”
•The Exphoria Code Antony Johnston
“A really gripping story with a strong female lead, an M16 hacker sent to France to investigate some dodgy goings-on. The author also wrote a great graphic novel, which was adapted into the film Atomic Blonde.”
•The Power Naomi Alderman
“Amazing, absolutely loved it – one of my favourite books. I’ve never read anything remotely like it. It reads like a thriller, but it’s deeper than that. Really thought-provoking.”
• Evolution for Babies Chris Ferrie and Cara Florance
“Chris Ferrie writes brilliant board books which take compact scientific concepts and strips them down to the most basic way to make them easy to understand. This one excellently explains evolution.”
•The Lie Tree Frances Hardinge
“A beautiful, brilliant book. which won the Costa book award. Set in Victorian times, it explores everything from mortality to gender inequality.”
Imagined Things Bookshop, 4 Westminster Arcade, Parliament Street, Harrogate, HG1 2RN; imaginedthings.co.uk
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