Bookfinders, Belfast

There is a wee dark, dusty and dirty higglety-pigglety second-hand bookshop very near Queen’s University in Belfast. It’s amazing. I can’t find much about it on the internet but have seen it compared to Black Books, and that makes sense!

I found myself spending about an hour there yesterday. Happily browsing the shelves which are roughly divided into sections. My flat mate Kevin hadn’t been before and stopped at the languages section which was right at the door. I peeked through plays and classics curiously. Kevin found a (monolingual?) Japanese dictionary, and got very excited indeed. We could hear people talking in the little cafe at the back, but other than that the shop was quiet, and a lovely place to escape the bitter wind and cold which has suddenly replaced last week’s sunshine.

I ended up with a pretty yellow (and yellowing) copy of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Edible Woman’, (which I am greatly enjoying) a teeny English dictionary (for 50p!) and a book by John B. Keane called ‘Letters of a love hungry farmer’ which is the fictional letters of a 52-year-old ‘Chastitute’ from somewhere near Cork, and called for HILARIOUS dramatic readings later on last night. I left it in Belfast but one of my favourite bits was “Such a good lady, who only lifts her skirt to answer a call of nature.”

Some books are locked away in glass and wooden cabinets, and I spied a copy of Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ (boo hiss) in one of these.

We decided to stay for a cup of tea, and to pore over our new purchases. The cafe area has lots of portraits of writers, a big mirror, some fairy lights, it doesn’t look like a cafe at all really. It’s so great. I have been there at least once for ‘Poetry and Pints’ at night, it’s BYOB and there are wine bottles with candles in, which are my favourite. Judging from posters and leaflets dotted around Bookfinders has hosted many book launches and readings also.

First image from here. Rest all my own. I hope it was ok to take/share them!

Kevin, tea and a thesauraus.