Bookshop visit 18: The Folkestone Bookshop, Folkestone, Kent, Southeast England.

Another month means another bookshop. For this one I decided I had to pick an LGBTQIA+ bookshop as it is pride month of course. The bookshop in question turned out to be the Folkestone bookshop, which funnily enough is in Folkestone. The bookshop is in town, down Tontine Street; I just love that name! For those who are unaware, a tontine is an agreement between people who earn a shared income as long as they are alive. I do not as such as agree with a tontine but the name sounds like an interesting dance. I think though that's because I saw a T.V show where a tontine was mentioned and there was dancing involved.

Anyway, the bookshop is a wonderful bookshop. They have a huge selection of LGBTQIA+ books ranging from fiction, to non-fiction and more. They also had a display of books relating to Palestine/books by Palestinian authors. I thought this was such a beautiful touch considering how unimaginably horrible things have been. Obviously this does not make up for the torment, suffering, pain and genocide that has been inflicted upon the Palestinians but every little acknowledgment or resistance against their suffering reminds me that some people care. For the bookshop to do this, it only reaffirms my love the shop, most companies won't even boycott Israel and cut ties.

Aside from being LGBTQIA+ and showing solidarity with Palestine, there is another why I love this bookshop. You can help yourself to free cuppa of tea or coffee. How lovely is that! That have a table and some chairs. What you could do is grab a cuppa, buy a book and get reading while you enjoy a nice hot drink. This would be ideal on a colder day.

Finally, the bookshop has friendly and helpful staff who are willing to listen. Sometimes you can go into a shop and no one wants to know when you're unsure on something for example. Here the staff member I spoke to seemed very keen to be helpful. So for anyone venturing into Folkestone or the nearby area, this is a definite recommendation for visiting places!


Until next time,


Thomas (they/them).

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