The Bridgnorth shop highlighting the brilliance of books

Many of us love a good book. It might be to provide us with some escapism from the challenges of day-to-day life as a story takes us to a place of beauty or a land of fantasy.

We might want a book to relax us or read something that takes a grip and has us on the edge of our seats.

Or we may wish to educate ourselves on a particular topic or individual.

And if you enjoy a good read, a trip to Bridgnorth might just be worthwhile – it has a shop where the staff share your passion and simply love talking about the books they stock.

Booka in Bridgnorth opened up in autumn of last year and is proving popular with its customers, providing more than just a place to shop but also a venue to meet and talk about literature.

It is the second Booka shop. The first opened in Oswestry in October 2009.

The business, founded by husband-and-wife team Carrie and Tim Morris, has been one of the trade’s big success stories and the recent arrival of a Booka in Bridgnorth is building on the success.

Among the passionate team working at Booka in Bridgnorth is senior bookseller Leigh Marie Dodd.

“We have been in Bridgnorth since October,” Leigh enthused. “It’s been going really great so far.

“I think we have been quite surprised by how the local community has really embraced us.”

“It’s been clear that an independent bookshop was needed on the high street.

“We have a small team who all have a passion for books and Tim and Carrie, who are really lovely, also support us here. And we love to get to know our customers and their reading tastes .”

Leigh worked for magazines, in communications and for marketing companies in the UK and Australia previously.

Originally from West Bromwich, she grew up in Australia with her parents Paul and Tina and brother Matt.

But she has returned to the West Midlands and loves working in Bridgnorth.

“It’s a great place to work, certainly a contrast to living in sunny Melbourne with the beach just down the road,” Leigh adds. “Reading is such a joy and one of the things I love about my job is being able to converse with customers, whether they are avid readers or have just come in to pick up a book and only read now and again.

“I love chatting to people about books, getting people’s thoughts on books that are on their radar but not ours or vice versa. It’s a great aspect of the job.

“For me, the best thing about Booka is that it’s more than just a bookshop."

“You see how much people have a passion for books and that is what Booka is about – we have a very strong community aspect.

“There are a lot of things we do in the store, aside from selling books.

“So when it was Independent Bookshop Week recently, we had a whole host of events, including author talks. We have book clubs as well and they have been really great because we love to chat to like-minded people with that interest in literature.

“There are books I wouldn’t have read but since working here, I have expanded my reading range. The book clubs go well and we have such lovely members. There’s been such a high demand that we have another session planned, which will be opening up from September.

“We have a ‘thrilling reads’ club – books to get your heart racing and a cosy book club, those heart-warming books.

“We are talking about a historical fiction one now too, which I think will prove very popular.

“Events we hold are not just pigeon-holed to an age range either. We are quite varied and have done a lot of children’s events. We’ve had competitions with local schools and storytime sessions.”

So which books are proving popular at the moment and does Leigh have any recommendations for the bookworms among us?

“From a children’s point of view, Julia Donaldson is always a best-seller as well as Harry Potter, of course,” Leigh says. “For adults, I’d recommend a couple of books which would make really good summer reads at the minute.

“There’s one called Tom Lake by Anne Patchett which is really popular and a beautifully written story, with excellent flow.

“It’s a lovely meandering tale, perfect for hot summer days.

“And one I have just read and can’t stop talking about is called Talking at Night by Claire Daverley.

"It’s a slow burner romance, a will they, won’t they story akin to One Day. It’s very character driven and it’s not just about their relationship but life experience and growth. It’s one of my favourites of the year. There are some really good books out at the minute which is lovely.”