Book Factory

The Book Factory is a little discount book shop with a very simple layout, lacking any style at all. However, there are some decent books to be found at low prices and a whole variety to suit all ages including kids, gardening, fact and fiction.
It’s not a bad place to come for a quick browse when you’re passing by but not if you’re seriously seeking anything particular.
Another thing is that the shop always seems to be about to close down (as displayed on the window on occasions) but still remains open. This is confusing but all in all, it’s a basic book shop that is currently not closing down. One thing for sure, is that there will certainly be bargains to be found.

Just so we’re clear this is not a factory where they make books and apparently you would have to be stupid to think that it was. Ahem. Book Factory has been in the middle of a ‘closing down sale’ almost since the first day it set up shop here on Church Street, one that shows no signs of abating.
Inside it’s you standard discount bookshop, tables full of books on herb gardening and 18^th century battleships with the occasional gem to be found amongst the detritus — Nick Laird’s latest offering ‘Glovers Mistake’ and Colm Toibin’s Costa nominated ‘Brooklyn’ were here for under £2.
In the far right hand corner there are some saucy looking erotic paperbacks called things like ‘Tokyo in Chains’ and ‘I’m With the Band’. Sure they provide some cheap laughs but are you going to be able to walk past the server at the till without feeling a sense of immense shame? The answer is no.

Book Factory looks like the most depressing bookshop you could visit. Instead of having eye-​catching displays in the window, it just has a permanent Closing Down sign with a couple of paperbacks underneath. The inside feels equally dire as it’s a large space with just a couple of tables in the middle and bookcases around the outside.
The irony is, once you look around the discount store actually has some terrific recent novels for daft prices. I picked up brand new copies of Colm Tobin’s Brooklyn, Joseph O’Neill’s Netherlands and Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger for just £1.99 each. They also had some great food and drink and film and music books for equally silly prices. It’s just a shame there’s no ambience, love or design gone into the shop!