After weathering two decades of decline, that also saw the rise of Amazon and fall of international chains like Borders, independent bookshops appear to be in good health, bucking current high street trends. On Monday, the Booksellers Association announced that indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland increased by 15 in 2018 – only the second year the number has risen since 1995. There are now 883 indie booksellers, compared to 868 in 2017 – a year that bucked the trend when the total rose by just one.

A majority of booksellers around the UK have also reported increased footfall and sales during the Christmas period, compared with last year.

So what is going on? What do you get out of shopping in a physical store? Have you changed your book buying habits over the last two decades? Is there a particular independent bookshop that you’d like to champion?

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