Win a copy of Bold Types: Indie Bookshops of Aotearoa New Zealand

Tomorrow Saturday 12 October is Aotearoa NZ Bookshop Day. It's the 10th anniversary of this fab event, and the theme this year is "Love your Bookshop". 

Here is a book that does just that. Bold Types - Indie bookshops of Aotearoa New Zealand is a beauty of a book, skilfully edited by Jemma Moreira. There are lots of photos by the legendary Jane Ussher, showing swoonsome shelves and book displays; interior and exterior shots of bookshops; bookshop people - customers, owners, and workers; and the occasional bookshop dog. 

The introduction by publisher Deborah Coddington celebrates the "beauty and quirk of bookshops". Her words are tinged with sadness too as booksellers suffered a lot from the impact of COVID, and two of the featured bookshops The Twizel Bookshop and Good Books in Wellington have since closed. 

But this is a happy book, about the particular pleasure of a good bookshop. Bold Types visits 32 of the best, all over the motu. What makes this book extra special is the owners themselves talk about their bookshops and their customers. Booksellers have a real love of books and their communities, and this shines through. There are sparkling bookselling anecdotes too, for fans of bookseller-authors like Shaun Bythell and Ruth Shaw.  

It's lovely to see local Ōtautahi bookshops featured: UBS Canterbury, Scorpio Books, and Piccadilly Books

You will add more Aotearoa bookshops to your must-visit list after reading this book. Spending time in Bold Types is up there with whiling away your time at a bookshop - it's time well-spent and an absolute joy. 

Favourite quotes

"Only a bookshop can give you that precious thing - what you never knew you were looking for."
Greg Hampton and Theresa Thompson, Carson's Bookshop, Thames

"We are a friendly lot who often bemoan the fact that there are too many good books and too little time to read them all".
Justin Edgar, The Little Book Shop, Remuera, Auckland

"Owning a bookshop consists of two distinct things - running a business and being a purveyor of magic."
Brenda Gale, The Martinborough Bookshop

"Coming into Unity is like joining a big party, a salon with different corners and nooks and crannies. You know there is something there for you even if you don't know what it is yet. That's the Unity experience; unexplored terrain, a myriad of options, and the frisson of the written word."
Jo McColl, Unity Books

Win a copy of Bold Types: Indie Bookshops of Aotearoa New Zealand

Thanks to Ugly Hill Press and Lighthouse PR, we have a copy of Bold Types to give away. 

Terms and conditions

• The competition is open from Friday 11 October to Sunday 20 October 2024.
• This competition is restricted to members of Christchurch City Libraries. Christchurch City Libraries staff may not enter this competition.
• The prize will be delivered to the winner's selected library for pickup.
• The winner will be announced on the Christchurch City Libraries website.
• Prize allocation is at the discretion of the Christchurch City Council. All decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• Prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
• Entries must have all correct contact details.
• Entries will become property of Christchurch City Libraries.

Bold Types: Indie Bookshops of Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa NZ Bookshop Day

• Read our post about Aotearoa NZ Bookshop Day 2024
• Visit our page about bookshops