It's our birthday

Come and celebrate on Saturday

TWO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, I was having nightmares about IKEA. I would wake in the middle of the night, sheets soaked, crying out “Billy! Oh, Billy!” But somehow, the bookcases were built, the till installed, the espresso machine if not exactly mastered then at least approached with caution. And at last, somehow opening day came, and with it the customers — oh so many of you.

Since then, there’ve been dozens and dozens of events, hundreds of bottles of wine knocked back, tens of thousands of books sold, countless conversations struck up at our bar. At least one bunch of like-minded strangers, brought together by the shop, have set up their own WhatsApp group to co-ordinate future such meetings. (Looking at you, the “Bookshop Babes”.)

Backstory has become what I always hoped it would be: not just a shop, but a place, with a life, a rhythm — and, at times, a vocabulary — all of its own.

To celebrate all of this, I’d love it if you’d join us this coming Saturday — 5th October — anytime from 10am-6pm. Like any self-respecting two-year-old, we’re having a very big birthday party! There’ll be balloons, cake, competitions, lots of fellow Backstoryites to chat to — and, of course, a fantastic selection of books.

No need to book or anything… just show up.

The best thing is that the perfect birthday present for us is something you can keep for yourself: a book.

If you live further afield and can’t make our party in person, you could always celebrate by buying us — and, by extension, yourself — a present from our website, with free UK delivery.

See you on Saturday!

Who’s the hardest person to buy for?

Last year, Megan wrote a lovely newsletter packed with recommendations for the hardest person to buy gifts for, from the in-laws you never see to “your friend who loves tiny spoons and ‘just-because’ cards, and who you know will definitely ask for “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, PLEASE” but be deflated when you show up empty-handed”.

For the next issue of our Backstory magazine, she’s going to play Agony Bookseller again. So, please can you hit reply to this email with the answer to the question: Who is the person in your life who is hardest to buy for and why?

Don’t worry, we won’t use your name! Megan will prescribe the perfect book for each entry we print, and the three entries that make us laugh the most will win a Backstory magazine subscription. You can give it to a friend, or keep it all to yourself.

Just hit reply!

Event announcement

Susanna Crossman at Backstory — Wednesday 30 October, 7.30pm

In the turbulent late seventies, six-year-old Susanna Crossman moved with her mother and siblings from a suburban terrace to a crumbling mansion deep in the English countryside. She spent the next 15 years growing up in a commune, with 50 residents from all over the world, armed with worn paperbacks on ecology, Marx and radical feminism, drawn together by utopian dreams of remaking the world.

Decades later, and armed with hindsight, Crossman revisits her past, turning to leading thinkers in philosophy, sociology and anthropology to examine the society she grew up in, and the many meanings of family and home. She joins us for a fascinating discussion about dreams of utopia — and a reality that fell somewhat short.

Upcoming events

Join us from anywhere in the world: Subscribers to our Backstory magazine or our book subscriptions get free access to online livestreams of all author events, including those that are sold out. For more information, check out our subscriptions or email us at books@backstory.london

• 2nd October, 7.30pm Freya Bromley, The Tidal Year SOLD OUT

• 5th October, 10am-6pm Backstory’s 2nd birthday party — join us all day at the shop for nibbles and competitions as we celebrate our 2nd birthday. All welcome!

• 9 October, 7.30pm Wendy Joseph KC, Rough Justice SOLD OUT

• 11 October, 6.30pm Poetry open mic night Free. No need to book a ticket, just turn up, whether you want to read or just hear some new poetry.

• 16 October, 7.30pm Kieran Yates, All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In — By the age of 25, Kieran Yates had lived in 20 different houses. She joins us to talk about why housing has become such a big political issue, why the system isn’t working and her memoir, which charts the heartbreaks and joys of a life spent searching for home.

• 6 November, 7.30pm Andrew O’Hagan, Caledonian Road SOLD OUT

• 28 November, 7.30pm Tim Shipman, Out SOLD OUT

The Backstory chart

Click on the links to order any of these books from our website with free UK delivery

Hardback

1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney This week’s bestseller by a country mile. Megan loves this book about two brilliant brothers, a treat for people who know a thing or two about chess, weird siblings, grief, and thinking deep thoughts but sometimes struggling to express them to the people you love the most.

2. Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers Our book of the month, from the author of Small Pleasures.

3. Want by Gillian Anderson The actress collects and introduces the anonymous fantasies of women from around the world.

4. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman The Thursday Murder Club author is back, with a new series of cosy crime.

5. What A Way To Go by Bella Mackie The author of How to Kill Your Family serves up a dead body in mysterious circumstances.

Paperback

1. Kala by Colin Walsh One of my favourite books of last year. A dark, twisty tale of friendship and suspicion set on the Irish coast.

2. Butter by Asako Yuzuki Still going strong.

3. Murder on Lake Garda by Tom Hindle You need only travel to Balham High Road for this tale of “a wedding party to die for”.

4. Orbital by Samantha Harvey A luminous novel about six astronauts orbiting the Earth and observing its beauty and fragility.

5. Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan Winner of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, coming to our Backstory fiction book club in November.

An announcement from Wimbledon BookFest

17 - 27 October 2024

Wimbledon BookFest’s Autumn Festival returns next month with a fantastic line-up of events. Highlights from this year's programme include: 

Richard E. Grant – Elif Shafak – Mishal Husain – Oliver Burkeman – Zeinab Badawi – Marianna Spring – Baroness Warsi – Ferdia Lennon – Clare Balding – Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock – Bernhard Schlink – Zandra Rhodes – Nina Stibbe – Abi Daré – Andrew O'Hagan & Marina Hyde – and many more!

Plus, children's events with acclaimed manga author and illustrator Chie Kutsuwada and storytelling with Liz Fost. 

Explore the full programme and book here.

Join our club

Want to have more Backstory in your life? Why not:

• Subscribe to our gorgeous and irreverent magazine all about books and bookshops. From as little as £9 a year.

• Join our fiction or non-fiction book clubs, which meet every month on Zoom with each book’s author. We’ve heard from winners of the Pulitzer, Nobel and Women’s prizes, and big names like Patrick Radden Keefe, Caleb Azumah Nelson and Christina Lamb. Join for £15 a month or come to a one-off session for £16.

• Take out a Backstory book subscription, tailored to each individual recipient. These start from £60 for three months (or £45 for kids) and make brilliant presents.

Happy reading!

Tom