"You don't water the books?" Despite this parched summer, the bookshop has been looking beautiful swathed in sunshine.

I was in Grasmere today when Will Smith from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social ran out and grabbed me kicking and screaming into his shop to sign some books. I signed about 50 and then he clarified he wanted me to sign MY book, The Postal Paths. There's also one rare unsigned book left in the shop 😁

Another bustling day at the bookshelves met by the calm of evening, with clouds over the fells and owls calling from the Easedale Road.

Yesterday, a lady in the bookshop hinted darkly that Grasmere was involved in some kind of conspiracy and that red squirrels must be made up. Today, after leaving the shelves of @samreadbookseller.bsky.social, this mythic figure was chomping outside our house.

Fabulous birthday haul from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social I'm Grasmere. Pound for pound, the best bookshop anywhere.

This evening in Grasmere! 7pm! #IndieBookshopWeek

Sam Read Bookseller@samreadbookseller.bsky.social · 3mo ago

It's June and #IndieBookshopWeek is fast approaching. Join us in Grasmere Village Hall on Wednesday June 17th to hear us talk with Katie Clapham about her bookselling life, and owning a small indie, through her shiny new book 'Receipts from the Bookshop'. Tickets here!

It's June and #IndieBookshopWeek is fast approaching. Join us in Grasmere Village Hall on Wednesday June 17th to hear us talk with Katie Clapham about her bookselling life, and owning a small indie, through her shiny new book 'Receipts from the Bookshop'. Tickets here!

Receipts from the Bookshop: An evening with Katie Clapham on June 17th | Sam Read Bookseller Online Shop

In this in-person event we will hear from bookseller, author and substack-star Katie Clapham. Katie will be talking all things bookselling to celebrate the launch of her new bookshop memoir Receipts f...

samreadbooks.co.uk

Happy publication week to these excellent books...

Blue sky and fluffy white clouds chasing across the sky above the bookshop. Bicycles on the Fred Whitton chasing along the roads (not in picture).

A week today! Join us for the online launch of @beewyld.bsky.social's new book #TheApothecaryByTheSea - a year in an Orkney Garden - pictured here during a glorious #Grasmere #GoldenHour. Vik will be interviewed by our own co-captain @pollyrowena.bsky.social - April 28th, 7.30pm BST. 
Link in bio.

A YEAR IN AN ORKNEY GARDEN? Yes please! I just pre-ordered THE APOTHECARY BY THE SEA by Victoria Bennett. Looking forward to the (virtual) book launch @samreadbookseller.bsky.social on April 28. Vik will be in conversation with the wonderful @pollyrowena.bsky.social 🥰 #naturewriting #booksky

The Apothecary By the Sea: an online launch with Victoria Bennett on April 28th | Sam Read Bookseller Online Shop

Join us to celebrate the launch of Victoria Bennett's new memoir, THE APOTHECARY BY THE SEA: A YEAR IN AN ORKNEY GARDEN. Hosted by Will Smith, of Sam Read’s, Bennett will be in conversation with p...

samreadbooks.co.uk

Fabulous haul from the glorious @samreadbookseller.bsky.social in Grasmere.

Be like Katie Holten! Come along to the online launch for #TheApothecaryByTheSea, Tuesday April 28th, 7.30pm BST. Ticket info here: #BookSky #NatureWriting #Orkney #Gardening

The Apothecary By the Sea: an online launch with Victoria Bennett on April 28th | Sam Read Bookseller Online Shop

Join us to celebrate the launch of Victoria Bennett's new memoir, THE APOTHECARY BY THE SEA: A YEAR IN AN ORKNEY GARDEN. Hosted by Will Smith, of Sam Read’s, Bennett will be in conversation with p...

samreadbooks.co.uk

Katie Holten@katieholten.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A YEAR IN AN ORKNEY GARDEN? Yes please! I just pre-ordered THE APOTHECARY BY THE SEA by Victoria Bennett. Looking forward to the (virtual) book launch @samreadbookseller.bsky.social on April 28. Vik will be in conversation with the wonderful @pollyrowena.bsky.social 🥰 #naturewriting #booksky

A spell of Good Friday without sideways rain, as a wealth of good reading heads out the bookshop door.

Spring equinox aurora in Grasmere

Weekend bookshop sunshine in Grasmere and new books flooding onto the bookshelves.

Fresh bursts of blue sky and weekend sunshine across the bookshop window.

Friday afternoon bookshop, sunshine!

However you feel about Valentine’s day we are aflame with books to fall in love with/by, and will always help you find "the one". As the sun lit the snow on the tops pink at shop closing this afternoon, we put together this little stack of #RecommendedReads on love and loving. #BookSky #Valentines

A dusting of snow on the fells beyond the bookshop hustle and bustle.

Celebrating paperback publication day for @mwcraven.bsky.social's #TheFinalVow with a visit and signing. Catch your signed Final Vows and selected backlist on the shelves whilst you can! #ChooseBookshops #IndieBookshops #CumbriaCulture #CumbriaCrime #BookSky

An eclectic longlist for the 2026 Women's Prize for non-fiction! @womensprize.bsky.social Take a look at the titles here... www.samreadbooks.co.uk/shop/women-s...

Sam Read Bookseller Online Shop

samreadbooks.co.uk

A top (withens) amount of Emily Brontë's #WutheringHeights selling from the bookshelves at present. Moody, passionate, and that's just the booksellers...

Always great to see so many browsers out and about in Grasmere this time of the year.

New paperback fiction on the bookshop table right now...

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, Grasmere is bathed in sunshine from dry stone wall to jackdaw wing.

A last glimpse of light in the Grasmere sky for 2025. Wishing you all a happy new year and we'll see you back in the bookshop on Friday 2nd January 2026 (doors open at 10am!)

Our 20 top selling books at Sam Read's for 2025 look like this! Top 5 were: 1. Rory Stewart, Middleland 2. Polly Atkin, The Company of Owls HB 3. Esther Rutter, All Before Me 4. David Nicholls, You Are Here 5. Stephen G Rae, Folklore of the Lake District

Morning sunshine in Grasmere on the third day of Christmas. Here for all your bookish wants and needs until 5pm.

Swathed in sunshine in Grasmere on a calm and clear Christmas Eve