Our story

A shop that still curates

Most of what's on the shelves is chosen by the people who work there, table by table, rather than generated by a bestseller feed. That's the idea behind the Curated Shelf: a standing table of staff-picked fiction and non-fiction that sits apart from the new- release tables, and changes as the staff's own reading changes.

The shop also runs across roughly two dozen sections — fiction, biography, true crime, poetry, science, stationery, games, homewares — so it reads as a general bookshop with strong opinions, not a specialist one.

A bookclub, not just a checkout

The Paperchain Bookclub meets in-store for readers who want a reason to argue about a book with other people, not just buy it and leave. Alongside it, the shop hosts in-store author events — readings, talks and signings — through the year.

For readers who prefer audio, Paperchain partners with Libro.fm so audiobook purchases still support the shop directly rather than a large retailer.

Gift cards

Paperchain sells its own gift cards, redeemable in-store and online — a straightforward way to give someone a book without guessing which one.

The real thing

This page rewrites and restructures what's genuinely on Paperchain's own site — it isn't a copy of their text, and it isn't the shop talking about itself. For the full catalogue, current stock and to actually buy a book, that's still the place to go.