Picture this. It’s a rare sunny day in Edinburgh; the meadows are scattered with groups of people with cans in hand and portable BBQ grills creating billows of smoke funnelling into the cloudless sky. The cherry blossom trees scatter petals across the pavements, and dandelions line the grass. Life is good – it’s the perfect day to go book shopping.
Alternatively, you could wait for a gloomy day. Clouds darken the sky, the promise of rain heavy in the air as you walk around the city for new and exciting books. Either day is a good day to buy books.
Edinburgh has many phenomenal bookshops, from Lighthouse to Waterstones. However, I am a firm believer in shopping second-hand, especially when it comes to books.
Primarily, this is out of self-preservation. I have read around six hundred books in the last three years, and I quickly realised that it was unsustainable (for both my bank account and the planet) to buy them new every time. Thus began my second-hand book collection, which has continued to grow steadily. Though the Kindle is a smashing invention, there is nothing like holding a book in your hand. Feeling the weight of the words in your hands, the softness of the pages, the smell as you open the first page and dive in. It’s an experience unfortunately irreplaceable by a Kindle.
Every book tells a story. Every single book in a second-hand bookshop has been in the hands of someone else. Someone chose that story at a moment in time and decided that it was worthy of their time. Each scratch, spine crack and dog ear are signs of it being read. The slight crinkle from when they dropped it in the bath and dried it on the radiator to stop the ink from running. The coffee cup stain from when it sat on their bedside table. The messy scrawl inside. These are all things of beauty. The reader has poured their soul into that book and its words. And now that book sits in your hands, waiting for its next adventure. Books do not only tell the stories within the pages.
Shopping for books in second-hand stores is an experience. Finding a dictionary, a book in a foreign language, a twenty-five-year-old copy of that one book you’ve been looking for forever and a children’s picture book all on the same shelf is part of the charm. It’s a challenge and a scavenger hunt of sorts. There is an unbridled sense of satisfaction in coming away from a day of walking in and out of bookstores with a strange, unrelated collection of books all from a different place and a different time.
So, if you are (hopefully) inspired to grab some second-hand books, here are some recommendations.
Amnesty Bookshop
This one has a fantastic selection of old and new books in every genre you could think of. This is especially good for students searching for academic literature on their chosen topic. As a bonus, it’s next to the Meadows for a lovely reading spot.
Tills Bookshop
This is a favourite for a reason. Not only is this shop beautiful, with its very own reading nook, but it is filled from floor to ceiling with sought-after books from around the world. This is your best bet if you have a special interest in Scottish literature.
Edinburgh Books
This is a lesser-known fabulous second-hand bookshop with an underground floor filled with music!
Armchair Bookshop
Right across from Edinburgh Books, this is probably the most well-known second-hand bookshop in Edinburgh. It has some gorgeous ancient literature that is a marvel to behold.
Image “Till’s Bookshop 04” by byronv2 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.