Another successful chapter for Grantown's brilliant book shop
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The Bookmark, on Grantown High Street, has been rated among the best independents in Britain.
A delighted Marjory Marshall, the owner, told the Strathy: "It's great news for all book lovers in the strath and beyond.
"Winning this accolade is such positive news for the community – and it's quite something to be the only Scottish winner!"
A spokesperson for the Booker Prize Foundation explained: "Our ambition is to help readers discover their next great book – an aim which also lies at the heart of independent bookselling and bookshops.
"That’s why, this Booker Prize season, we launched the inaugural Booker Prize Indie Bookshop Spotlight, a competition which invited independent bookshops from across the UK and Ireland to celebrate this year’s Booker Prize shortlist along with us."
To enter, each store had to assemble in-store displays of the nominated titles and posting images of their activity on their social media channels. Six stores would be chosen as winners, with one winner then selected at random to receive two tickets to the Booker Prize 2023 award ceremony and dinner on November 26 at Old Billingsgate in London.
"Entries came from the length and breadth of the country, all of which impressed us both with the creativity and originality of their displays, and the passion and dedication of the booksellers while hand-selling the Booker Prize 2023 nominated books to their customers."
The six winning bookshops of The Booker Prize Indie Bookshop Spotlight competition are The Bookmark of Grantown; Little Acorns Bookstore, Derry, Londonderry; The Bookshop, Mold, Flintshire; Round Table Books, Brixton, London; Westwood Books, Sedbergh, Cumbria and Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books, Frome, Somerset.
The news comes just as Mrs Marshall's crime fiction festival – Dark Nights, Dark Deeds – gets under way at the community centre in the heart of Grantown. There are events on from tonight until Sunday afternoon.
The Bookmark has been owned and managed by Mrs Marshall since 2007, on a spot where there has been a bookshop for several decades.
The shop is bursting with an eclectic range of titles, including bestsellers, Scottish interest, and a large children’s section. ‘Dark Nights, Dark Deeds… Death in Grantown’ brings Scottish crime authors to the strath and the shop enjoys celebrating events such as World Book Day along with the local community.
