English Bookshop Logo

We are closed 24th and 25th April, reopening at our new place on Saturday, 25th at 9am!...

The shelves have had their last lick of varnish, the elusive electrician was finally cornered and, as I write these words, Rachel is placing the first of 1000’s of new books on the shelves of the new bookshop. We are moving from our current location on Thursday, 24th & Friday 25th April, so if you need to stock up on books now’s your chance as we will be closed on those days. In the meantime, our second-hand books are CHF 1, and w...

Our last used books swap was so popular, we’re doing it again! Join us on Saturday, November 30th, from 10am-2pm. Come by with your used books, and take one new-to-you used book for every book you bring (no textbooks, manuals, or encyclopedias, please!). We look forward to seeing you there!...

Perhaps you’ve strolled by the bookshop lately and noticed our new window display. Why paper cranes ? Why a thousand paper cranes ? (français suit) Origami (the Japanese art of folding paper) cranes are a symbol of hope and peace in Japan. The story starts when seventh grader Sodako gets diagnosed with leukemia, after the fall of Hiroshima’s atomic bomb. Despite this, she stays hopeful for her rehabilitaion. A visiting friend of hers s...

Come and join us on Tuesday 25 June at 7pm (doors open at 6:30) for the launch of The Road – A Guide to Crossing the Nepal Himalayas by Bike; a guidebook which aims to bust the myth that Nepal is only an extreme travel destination. The book provides a step by step guide to crossing the 1650km Middle Himalayan range (1000-3000m) by gravel or mountain bike. As well as a guidebook, the book also serves as a travelogue, with stories, anecdotes and ...

Hello booklovers! The bookshop will exceptionally be closed this Thursday, May 23rd. We will be open as usual on Friday morning....

Calling all poetry lovers! Kathleen Jamie will be at UNIL on Tuesday, May 7th for Conversations Towards Nature. BLDG Geopolis, Room 227, at 17:15. Admission is free. Kathleen Jamie, poet and essayist, is one of the leading voices in environmental writing in the UK today. Her books meditate deeply and movingly on the relation between human communities and the natural world, and is currently Makar (Poet Laureate of Scotland). Her latest volume of p...

Julianne DiNenna will be in the bookshop on Thursday, April 25th to read from her recently published book of poetry, Girl in Tulips and other Non-Communicable Family Diseases. Doors will open at 18:30, with the reading to commence at 19:00. Please sign up here if you plan to attend. Girl in Tulips is part lyric, part incantation and prayer, part memoir of love and longing. We travel into the underworld of wards with ...

Happy birthday Books Books Books! The bookshop turned 15 recently and, like all teenagers, it’s is hard to deal with sometimes, and a sublime pleasure at others. To mark the occasion, we’ve had some spiffy new bags printed and would like to invite you to tea on Saturday, 2nd December anytime for 2pm until close at 6pm. As well as serving the most delicious cake known to humanity we are also organising a treasure hunt. You will have to...

Zoe Perrenoud Book Signing — Saturday, July 30th
Blog , Event /

Zoe Perrenoud will be in the bookshop on Saturday, July 30th from 2-4pm to sign copies of her new book, Bloodlender! Zoe came into the bookshop ten years ago, when we were back on Rue de la Mercerie. She was just finishing up a writing course, and said that she would write a book and hold an event in the bookshop. We are thrilled that the event is finally coming to fruition with BLOODLENDER! An ancient magic. A ...

Paul Scraton at the bookshop – Friday, 24th June

A while ago I got a subscription to an independent publisher in the UK called Influx Press. I read the quietly brilliant The Country Will Bring Us No Peace (Matthieu Simard), then Steve Hollyman’s Lairies, which seemed to be my life in the 90’s reflected back to me. Then I got in the post a slim book with a strange black and white photograph on the cover… . This was In the Pines by Paul Scraton and I was an instant convert...

Paul Lynch at the Bookshop – 20th May

I first interviewed Paul Lynch around seven years ago when his novel Black Snow was a finalist for the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. I loved the book, his so-called Irish farm story from the author who had promised himself that he’d never write an Irish farm story; complex, dark, atmospheric, with hints Manly Hopkins. After Black Snow I couldn’t wait to read his next books, Grace – which the Washington Post ...

Bibliotopia 2022

The annual Bibliotopia literature festival at the Jan Michalski Foundation is almost upon us. Between the weekend of 13th – 15th May writers from around world will be at the Foundation talking about their work under the theme of  ‘Care’.  The programme is now online and tickets tend to sell out quite quickly. The events are multilingual with simultaneous translations. Perhaps most striking...

Rachel Recommends: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

Genre: Science Fiction This is the fourth and final instalment in Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series, and like the books before it, this one too is an absolutely beautiful book about interpersonal relationships, with the characters stranded at a truck stop equivalent in outer space. I’ve loved each of these books, and this one was no different, despite being much lighter on plot than many space opera novels. This book is about prejudi...

Book Event: Jo Ann Hansen Rasch’s New Collection of Poetry

Jo Ann Hansen Rasch was one of the first – if not the first – writer we had at the bookshop, so it’s a great pleasure to have her back some 12 years later for the launch of her second poetry collection Dancing Light Sings. Born during the dramas of the last two or three years, the poems span a lifetime, revealing not only lighter moments, but darker legacies too. Jo Ann’s poetry is personal and written in simple conf...

What Rachel Read Over Christmas

Well booklovers, it’s been a year! I have struggled with the attention span for reading during the pandemic, and I haven’t read nearly as many books this year as I usually do. I ended up cancelling my travel plans for Christmas, and used some of that free time to catch up on some of the books at the top of my TBR list, and they did not disappoint – they were all excellent reads. The first book I read was The Lost Chapter by Ca...

Christmas Opening/Horaires d’ouverture de noël

Please note: the bookshop will be closed from midday on December 24th and will reopen at 9am on Monday, 3rd January. Veuillez noter que la librairie sera fermée à partir de midi le 24 décembre et rouvrira à 9 heures le lundi 3 janvier. Happy reading! See you in 2022!...

Rachel Recommends: A Deadly Education

Genre: Fantasy I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I love magic school type books, and I think this one might be my favourite yet. A school with no teachers, where the school is trying to kill you, and the protagonist has a talent for destruction? Yes please! Well okay, not the school exactly, so much as the creatures that reside within it, but still. I tend to love everything written by Naomi Novik, but this is definitely my favour...

Le Livre sur les Quais

Hey booklovers, it’s the annual book festival Le Livre Sur Les Quais in Morges this weekend! There are some big names on the English Program this year, and our very own Matthew Wake will be animating several events, including (but not limited to) events with Amitav Ghosh and John Boyne! Check out the program below! https://www.lelivresurlesquais.ch/programme/...