SHIORI BOOKS
An independent bookshop on Calder Lane, Edinburgh, since 2011. New fiction, poetry and essays on the front table, second-hand and rare in the back room, and every book chosen by a bookseller.
( EDINBURGH )
Every Saturday at half past seven the lamps go low in the back room and someone reads aloud: a poet, a translator, one of us. Thirty seats, five pounds, back against any book you take home.
( SATURDAYS, 19:30 )
( THE SHOP, SINCE 2011 )
Books chosen slowly, for the street we live on.
Shelves
Fiction
Poetry
Essays
Art & Photography
Architecture
Cookery
Travel & Maps
Children’s
Second-hand
Rare
On the front table
The Salt Orchard
A Year of Small Rooms
Night Ferry Notes
What the River Kept
The Lamp Maker’s Daughter
Field Guide to Quiet Streets
Letters Across the Firth
The Borrowed Garden
Cold Light, Warm Bread
Small Atlas of Islands
The Tidewatcher
Seven Winters
About 9,000 books sit between the two rooms on Calder Lane. The front room holds new books and the front table, which Hanna Moreau resets when a week of reading has shifted what she wants to hand over. The back room holds second-hand and rare stock, and on Saturdays it holds the reading. Every book is bought by the people who work here, not by a list sent from somewhere else. If a title is in print and not on the shelf, a special order is free and usually here in two to four working days.
The Saturday letter
One short letter a week: what came in, who is reading on Saturday, and one book we cannot stop handing to people.
( 01 )
The new shelves
Hanna Moreau buys the new books, and she buys them one title at a time. A novel stays on the front table only while someone in the shop can say why a neighbour should take it home. Poetry and essays sit beside the fiction when they belong in the same week, not in a separate season. On Tuesday morning the table is cleared and set again. What did not move goes back to the shelf. What arrived in the last few days, still in plain jackets, takes its place face-out.
If the book you want is in print and not among those twelve, ask. A special order costs nothing. Ravi Menon places it, and it is usually in the shop within two to four working days. We text you when it is on the counter. You can also leave a note for the shelf subscription: three books you loved, and one you did not. Hanna or Ravi choose from that.
( 02 )
The Saturday reading
Every Saturday the back room is set with thirty chairs and one low lamp. Doors open at 19:00. The reading runs from 19:30 to 20:30. Amara Osei has hosted it since 2015: a poet, a translator, a debut novelist, or one of the booksellers. A seat is £5, and that £5 comes off any book you buy the same evening. On the second Saturday of the month, Lucía Ferrer holds story hour at 11:00. That hour is free, and it is for children.
Doors 19:00 · reading 19:30 · 30 seats · £5
( 03 )
The people who stay
Seven people keep the shop, and most of them have been here for years. Callum Reid has run the back room since 2011, buying second-hand and rare books and saying plainly what a copy is worth. Tomasz Wilk has had the bindery bench since 2016. A spine that has split can be re-backed there, in about ten working days. Lucía Ferrer has built the children’s shelves since 2018 and still sits on the low stool for story hour. After the Saturday reading, a few regulars stay in their chairs and finish a chapter before the lamps go out.
Hanna Moreau, Callum Reid, Amara Osei, Tomasz Wilk, Lucía Ferrer, Ravi Menon, Elin Sørensen.
( 04 )
At the counter
Anything we charge for is on this list, in pounds sterling. A special order is free, and so is a second-hand valuation on Thursdays by appointment.
| Service | What is included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Special order | Any book in print, usually 2–4 working days. We text you when it arrives. | Free |
| Gift wrapping | Plain paper and cotton string, per book. | £2 |
| Shelf subscription, monthly | One book a month chosen for you by a bookseller. Collect in the shop, or UK post included. | £24 / month |
| Shelf subscription, three-month gift | Three books, one a month, with a card in your words. | £70 |
| Gift voucher | A printed card to spend on anything in the shop. No expiry. | £25 |
| Saturday reading seat | One of 30 seats. The £5 comes off any book bought that evening. | £5 |
| Book repair: spine re-backing | Per book, about 10 working days, done in the back room. | £18 |
| Second-hand valuation | Thursdays by appointment. We buy, or we tell you where it should go. | Free |
Prices in pounds sterling, the same in every language. · Services →
( 05 )
Notes from the counter
( 06 )
Come in, stay a while.
Tuesday to Friday we are open 10:00–19:00. Saturday is 10:00–21:00, so you can come for a book and stay for the reading. The front room is step-free. The back room has one step and a ramp.
27 Calder Lane
Edinburgh EH9 1PQ
Scotland
Tue–Fri
10:00–19:00
Sat
10:00–21:00
Sun
12:00–17:00
Mon
Closed
+44 131 555 0127
hello@shioribooks.example
