Barter Books

 

Barter Books is a secondhand bookshop located in Alnwick in an old Victorian train station. There is something so charming and captivating about the store, from the moment you walk in you are greeted with a cosy open fire. There are poetry lines throughout both rooms and a model railway that runs along the columns in the central room. 

If you find something you wish to purchase, you can buy it as you would in any other shop. However, Barter Books also works on a credit basis. You can take books in that you've got multiple copies of or no longer want and trade them in. The store then gives you credit which you can use towards any books you wish to buy. I have used this system myself, I traded in a lot of old books that I had while I was at university, got the credit, ended up buying six new books and only had to pay 20p difference. Awesome. Because Barter Books is a secondhand bookshop anyway, the majority of the books are inexpensive. There are some wonderful old books that are slightly more pricey, but, I imagine that they are still cheaper than buying them elsewhere. 

The books are set out by genre and are all alphabetised. There is literally everything you could want. I would say that fiction makes up the majority as there is even an overflow. But there are comics, poetry, travel books, psychology, politics. Because it is set out in such a way if you're looking for something specific you can go to the specific section. I generally like to just wander around and take everything in. 

I'm a self-confessed bookworm. Reading has always been an important part of my life ever since I was little. The first time I visit Barter Books was with my parents and I spent hours just roaming around. It was incredible. I recently decided I wanted to visit again, this time, my sister and her boyfriend wanted to come too. My sister especially has never been a big reader, but she was so impressed with the store and loved it (she even bought a book!!!) 

It's such a wonderful place, maybe I'm biased because I look bookshops anyway. But Barter Books is definitely worth a visit, especially if you're a book lover. I guarantee you will fall in love with it. Have you been? What are your thoughts on it?

Love,

Brogan