The new b-towns: Book Towns in The Hindu

Every trend betrays some of the anxieties of its times, and so it is with the current fascination with book towns. In his celebratory and fabulously illustrated volume, Book Towns: Forty-Five Paradises of the Printed Word, Alex Johnson is conscious of the concerns that are behind these new common spaces springing up around the world... The proximity of publishing and retail enabled in book towns harks back to a time when the engagement between different sectors of the book trade was more intimate and contributory. The scattering of bookshops in homes and establishments within a circumscribed space stands in contrast to the sameness of the big book chains and the algorithmic recommendations of online stores. Many bookshops in these b-towns also offer boarding, with some placing beds among the shelves, with guests hopefully inhaling arguments for the importance of independent bookshops in the circulation of ideas.
More by Mini Kapoor at The Hindu