Sam Read Bookseller

Tomorrow evening! Come along to uni if Cumbria at Ambleside and here me talk Dorothy, owls and more …

And we will round the month off a Cumbrian bonanza, with Rory Stewart and James Rebanks in conversation about Rory's new book #Middleland. Tues 28th Oct, 7pm, Westmorland Hall, Kendal Leisure Centre. Make sure you add book at checkout to ensure a signed copy. betterboxoffice.co.uk/westmorland-...

poster for talk, with picture of Prof Sam Rayner on left, black and white picture of Dillon's bookshop on right, and bookcover for Women Booksellers of the twentieth century in the centre. Below it reads: Sam Read Bookseller presents a talk by Prof. Sam Rayner on bookselling history. 'Hidden in the bookshelves: women booksellers'. Grasmere village hall, wed 8 oct 2025, 7.30pm. Free entry. All welcome.

Then ahead of #BookshopDay on Saturday, we have a visit this week from @profbookshops.bsky.social, who will be giving a talk on Women Booksellers in the Twentieth Century in Grasmere village hall on Weds 8th Oct, 7.30pm. #Booksky #BookshopLife #BookTalk

We've got some busy event times this month, and this coming week. First, we'll be selling early copies of the paperback of @pollyrowena.bsky.social's #TheCompanyOfOwls at a talk on '‘Companions of nature: sickbed consolations & mimic hootings', Uni of Cumbria, Ambleside, Tue 7th Oct, 6.30pm.

Paperback copy of Old Soul by Susan Barker held up with the sign for Mathilde's cafe in Grasmere, and the lovely old slate building of Sam Read books in the background.

mission accomplished thank u @samreadbookseller.bsky.social 😃

With the jackdaws staring you down for any food. As it should be.

This is our very slow reply to say yes. yes indeed. In fact it's now here, staring out from the bookshelves.

Doofus holding up a copy of Tales Accursed: a Folk Horror Anthology.

Exterior shot of Sam Read Bookseller in Grasmere

Stopped at my favourite bookshop in The Lakes, Sam Read in Grasmere (@samreadbookseller.bsky.social) and dropped off a box of signed & demon stamped copies of Spooky Book No. 2. So they're there if you want one, Lake Folk 🦇..!

Daphne Du Maurier, After Midnight: Thirteen Chilling Tales for the Dark Hours (Introduced by Stephen King) - Special indie edition with orange spredges, stood on the bookshop counter with bookshelves beyond.

Daphne NU Maurier www.samreadbooks.co.uk/product/daph...

Front Cover of this week's Cumberland and Westmorland Herald with a header which reads "Rory Stewart Unveils New Cumbrian Book"

Our upcoming event with Rory Stewart and James Rebanks is on the front page of the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald! Pieces in Rory's new book #Middleland first featured in the pages of the Herald. Join us Tues 28th Oct at 7pm at Westmorland Hall, Kendal.
betterboxoffice.co.uk/westmorland-...

vintage red double-decker 555 bus driving along A591 in Grasmere, with car-filled layby and cloud-capped fells behind it, with large poster reading 'it's best by bus' along the side of the bus

vintage 1 decker ribble bus in cream and red marked 555 Lancaster

vintage 555 double-decker buses going around tree-lined bend of road in Grasmere, all marked 555 Lancaster

vintage buses spread out driving down A591 south through Grasmere, with grey cloud above the browning fells

Did you know our essential and iconic 555 bus route turns 100 this year? We didn't, until we heard the centenary was being marked today with a convoy of vintage buses restored by the Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust (RVPT), pictured here returning from Keswick through #Grasmere. #PublicTransport

Looking forward to this one. Sarah Hall is an astonishment of a writer.

Delighted that my "Folklore of the Lake District" made it onto the list of August bestsellers at @samreadbookseller.bsky.social

If you are in the Lakes, do call for a browse; and also, it's #BuyABookDay

Link: samreadbooks.co.uk

#folklore #lakedistrict #booksky

Kelly Davis, The Lost Art of Ironing (Hedgehog Poetry) with Grasmere Church in the background

On Saturday 13th September, from 2pm, poet Kelly Davis is reading from The Lost Art of Ironing at Windermere Library. It's the first in a series of events hosted by the Lake District Holocaust Project entitled 'Memory / Place / Ghost'.

bookshop corner with Sarah and Jocelyn laughing and talking in front of the window with Jocelyn's art and many copies of Helm in, with drystone wall, trees, field and the wet road behind them.

Panel with green and pink-orange background, picture of cover of indie edition of Helm and text: To celebrate the publication of the acclaimed Cumbrian author Sarah Hall’s new novel, Helm, fi ve local artists have each been paired with an independent bookshop to create an installation that offers a unique interpretation of the Helm Wind. The Helm Wind is a strong north-easterly wind hitting the western slopes of Cross Fell in Cumbria and is the only named wind in the UK. It features in weather warnings and local folklore alike, and it is known for its wave-like form. This is a partnership between the publisher Faber & Faber and the art collective A Public House to celebrate the publication of Helm by Sarah Hall. The fi ve independent bookshops displaying artists’ work are Bookends in Carlisle, Fred’s Bookshop in Ambleside, Sam Read Bookseller in Grasmere, Westwood Books in Sedbergh and Verey Books in Pooley Bridge. Exclusive signed independent bookshop edition available now

Orange and green background with white text: Jocelyn McGregor has created a new series of illustration-style paintings on paper for Sam Read Booksellers, depicting the various stages of irritation at having long hair in the Helm Wind that turn a pleasant walk into a battle with the elements. The artwork plays with the possible origin of the name ‘Helm’ as a helmet or cap in Anglo-Saxon and the folklore surrounding long hair as having semi-autonomous power, strength and mystical abilities. About the artist Jocelyn McGregor is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Cumbria. She holds a BFA in Fine Art from the Ruskin School of Fine Art and an MFA in Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art. She was awarded a Henry Moore Foundation Grant (2023), Sculpture in the City: Aldgate Square Commission 2022–3, the British Council SWAP UK/Ukraine Residency 2019–20 and Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2018. Key exhibitions include No Notion of Loving by Halves, God’s House Tower, Southampton (UK); DREDGED, Windermere Jetty Museum, Cumbria (2023–4); Lapsus Calami, Marlborough London (2023–4); Trespassers Will be Detected?, Dnipro Centre for Contemporary Culture, Ukraine (2020).

Sarah Hall standing in front of the centre panel of the window, holding a copy of Helm and smiling gently, with fells reflected in the glass in front of the art work, so one of the heads with long hair blown about their face is just above Sarah's short-haired head.

It's so great to see a publisher supporting creativity in a writer's local area like this. Visit our fellow Cumbrian Indies @fredsbookshop.bsky.social, Verey Books, @bookendscarlisle.bsky.social and @westwoodbooks.bsky.social to see the other artists' work.
#ChooseBookshops #CumbriaCulture #BookSky

Sarah at the bookshop counter leaning on it next to a stack of Helm

Sarah leaning on hand on bookshop counter smiling, with Helm in front of her, Sarah in focus.

Same leaning on hand behind counter smiling and looking straight ahead, away from camera, Helm in focus in foreground.

We have not only signed indie bookshop specials of #Helm but also a limited number of special signed postcards with the wind scale on them so catch them while you can.

Sarah looked very at home behind the bookshop counter we thought! #HelmWind #BookSky #NewFiction

Jocelyn and Sarah leaning on windowsill in front of Jocelyn art and Helm books in the window smiling at the camera in light sun.

Sarah Hall standing in front of bookshop window showing the three panels of art. She is smiling slightly and has her hands in her pockets.

Sarah hall leaning on bookshop window holding her hardback novel helm and looking up at the art work

Jocelyn and Sarah with their backs to the camera, looking at the window and talking to each other, smiling, in a hint of sun

Happiest of publication days to Sarah hall and her magnificent new novel #Helm from @faberbooks.bsky.social. Incredibly grateful today's blustery wind blew in both Sarah and artist Jocelyn McGregor who made the beautiful Helm-themed panels for the shop window.

The 5 artists are all working in different media. You can see their work in the windows of our fellow Cumbrian Indies @fredsbookshop.bsky.social in Ambleside, Verey Books in Pooley Bridge, @westwoodbooks.bsky.social in Sedbergh and @bookendscarlisle.bsky.social in Carlisle over the next few weeks.

Jocelyn hanging her work in the window of Sam Read's, seen through the window from outside in late afternoon sunlight. Two panels fill two of three windows spaces, showing a figure will long hair blowing around.

The finished window at dusk, with three panels showing a figure with long brown hair flying around their face in the wind, hanging in the three panels of the main bookshop window. Under them, the window has a full row of the hardback of Helm by Sarah Hall, with other books behind. The fells are reflected in the window high up, half way across the artist's panels, so it looks like the figure is moving across the silhouetted fell.

This evening artist Jocelyn McGregor hung her art in our windows as one of five Cumbrian artists commissioned by @faberbooks.bsky.social to create new work for Cumbria's indie bookshops to celebrate Sarah Hall's new novel #Helm, published tomorrow. Get your signed copy from tomorrow morning!

Photo of Rory Stewart on the left hand side, image of Rory's new book Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders (Jonathan Cape) in the centre, and on the right hand side, a photo of James Rebanks.

We're delighted to announce Rory Stewart will be launching new book Middleland in conversation with James Rebanks at Westmorland Hall, Kendal on Tuesday 28th October, 7pm. Buy your ticket and pre-order signed copies of Middleland to collect on the night: betterboxoffice.co.uk/westmorland-...

Photo of Rory Stewart on the left hand side, image of Rory's new book Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders (Jonathan Cape) in the centre, and on the right hand side, a photo of James Rebanks.

We're delighted to announce Rory Stewart will be launching new book Middleland in conversation with James Rebanks at Westmorland Hall, Kendal on Tuesday 28th October, 7pm. Buy your ticket and pre-order signed copies of Middleland to collect on the night: betterboxoffice.co.uk/westmorland-...

Evening sunshine on the bookshop with blue sky above, seen from Moss Parrock.

Evening sunshine on the bookshop.

Stephen G. Rae, Folklore of the Lake District (The FolkLore Press) on a stone wall with Grasmere sport field and fells beyond

From stories of fae folk and the supernatural, to mythology and nature lore and much more... wonderful to see @stephengrae.bsky.social's Folklore of the Lake District is proving so popular on Grasmere's bookshelves! www.samreadbooks.co.uk/product/step...

Be like the herdwick, browse in the shade.

Bright book covers on display on the bookshop desk

Tidying the bookshelves after another busy summer's day in Grasmere...

Ten Poems from the Lake District booklet

I picked up three copies of this beautiful booklet by Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social while visiting @samreadbookseller.bsky.social in Grasmere yesterday. The perfect gift for friends far away.
Ten Poems from the Lake District share.google/nc6f2Ozxjtup...

Nice to see my new book The Borders- The Lands We Share on the shelves in @samreadbookseller.bsky.social in Grasmere. Support #indybookshops! @gritstonebooks.bsky.social @cumbriapr.bsky.social

Caddisfly hanging out on the bookshop window, enjoying some reflection

When you're desperate to look in the bookshop window...

Meet the author..the fascinating David Howe @davidprf.bsky.social is guest at the Burn How Hotel book session on Weds Aug 27, 7pm, it's free, all welcome. David wrote the glorious "Rocks & Rain, Reason & Romance", one of the best ever books about the Lakes. Pls share. @lakedistrict.bsky.social

Just received this from Sam Read Bookseller in Grasmere (@samreadbookseller.bsky.social) - the books not the rabbit! Ordered Saturday, delivered today (Monday).

Exceptional service, thanks guys!

Alfred Wainwright, Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells – 70th Anniversary Edition Box Set