OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
An independent book shop driven by a passion for reading, with beautiful books, cards and gifts curated for you from a cobbled market place in the heart of Yorkshire
Books curated for YOU
Nestled in the bustling market town of Otley in the beautiful Wharfe Valley, our bookshop is a haven for readers. Books from local authors, best-sellers, classic fiction, nature, poetry and a large selection of books for kids and teens are here for you to escape into.
As well as books we have a wide selection of carefully selected design-led gifts, cards and gift wrap.
We regularly have author events, book clubs and social gatherings, held in our beautiful upstairs space, where we celebrate all things literature.
Bespoke Book Subscriptions
Treat yourself or fellow book lover to our bespoke bookshop subscription service. Each month you will receive two mystery blurbs to choose from. These will be two new paperback fiction titles we have enjoyed ourselves! After making your choice, we will post the book to your doorstep or will have it ready for collection at the shop.
Treat yourself or fellow book lover to our bespoke bookshop subscription service. Each month you will receive two mystery blurbs to choose from. These will be two new paperback fiction titles we have enjoyed ourselves! After making your choice, we will post the book to your doorstep or will have it ready for collection at the shop.
You can choose between a 3, 6 or 12 month period. Books are dispatched on the first week of each month. This is the 12 month option.
£16 per month which will be taken at the beginning of each month you have opted for. This price includes a hand-picked paperback book, bookmark, postcard written by a member of staff on why we chose the book and free delivery.
Treat yourself or fellow book lover to our bespoke bookshop subscription service. Each month you will receive two mystery blurbs to choose from. These will be two new paperback fiction titles we have enjoyed ourselves! After making your choice, we will post the book to your doorstep or will have it ready for collection at the shop.
You can choose between a 3, 6 or 12 month period. Books are dispatched on the first week of each month. This is the 6 month option.
£16 per month which will be taken at the beginning of each month you have opted for. This price includes a hand-picked paperback book, bookmark, postcard written by a member of staff on why we chose the book and free delivery.
Treat yourself or fellow book lover to our bespoke bookshop subscription service. Each month you will receive two mystery blurbs to choose from. These will be two new paperback fiction titles we have enjoyed ourselves! After making your choice, we will post the book to your doorstep or will have it ready for collection at the shop.
You can choose between a 3, 6 or 12 month period. Books are dispatched on the first week of each month. This is the 3 month option.
£16 per month which will be taken at the beginning of each month you have opted for. This price includes a hand-picked paperback book, bookmark, postcard written by a member of staff on why we chose the book and free delivery.
Special Edition Books
A selection of special editions, titles signed by the author or with special sprayed edges.
A scorching story of love, change, homecoming and forgiveness' DAWN FRENCH 'A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel' IRVINE WELSH 'A master-craftsman of deep feeling and linguistic intimacy' MAX PORTER 'Kae Tempest at his finest' ANTHONY SHAPLAND 'Unboundedly beautiful' MICHAEL PEDERSEN
Rothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind. The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans.
The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.
Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.
'Nora Breen will become a favourite character' Ian Moore 'A glorious read' Amanda Mason 'Nora Breen is Maria Von Trapp on steroids' Richard Armitage Sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen is back, as the latest attraction in Gore-on-Sea turns deadly . . .
On a brilliant December morning, Nora finds her customary seaside walk rudely interrupted: she's been summoned, with Detective Inspector Rideout, to the home of Doreen Chimes, Gore-on-Sea's resident medium. Chimes would like to report a robbery - and to personally invite Rideout to that evening's private séance. It's an invitation he will regret accepting: the evening ends in a suspiciously spooky murder.
And in the coming days, more of the attendees will find themselves in peril. Can Nora figure out who - or what - is behind these spectral killings before it's too late?
The stunning new novel from the Booker Prize-winning, Sunday Times-bestselling author of SHUGGIE BAIN and YOUNG MUNGO. An Oprah's Book Club pick. Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction ‘You finish the novel feeling emotionally enriched and slightly bereft at leaving its characters behind’ - The Sunday Times 'This book is special' - Colm Tóibín 'Passionate, liberating, and gorgeous' - Min Jin Lee 'Brilliant and rare' - Ann Patchett 'A masterpiece' - Elaine Feeney 'A fierce, glorious sting of a novel' - Lauren Groff
Out of money and with little to show for his art school education, John-Calum Macleod takes the ferry home to the island of Harris to find that not much has changed except for him. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal resumes his old life, caught between the two poles of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, weaver, and pillar of their local Presbyterian church, and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella, who has kept a faltering peace with her son-in-law for decades. While Cal wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, John is dismayed by his son’s long hair and how he seems unwilling to be Saved.
As the seasons pass, everything is poised to change as the threads holding together the fragile community become increasingly entangled.
Local Interest Books
A selection of titles local to the area.
Otley Chevin: A Landscape History is a 61-page local history book written by Alastair Laurence, featuring illustrations by Roger Watkins and originally published in 2006. It explores the rich human and geological heritage of the 700-acre Chevin Forest Park, which overlooks the market town of Otley.
The book details thousands of years of human activity on the Chevin and examines local myths, legends, and mysteries. Key eras and subjects covered include:
Prehistoric Roots: Traces the discovery of ancient flint knives, scrapers, and arrowheads indicating early human presence on the ridge.
Iron Age & Roman: Discusses the settlement of early tribes on the wooded slopes and the proximity of Roman roads and camps in the Wharfe Valley.
Quarrying & Industry: Highlights how the Chevin was shaped by centuries of stone quarrying, which provided gritstone for local buildings and infrastructure.
Folklore & Vistas: Explores the local folklore attached to its rugged crags and the famous panoramic views across Wharfedale from spots like the Surprise View.
This book by Graham Shutt – ex-teacher at Prince Henry’s Grammar School – lists, describes and tells the story of Otley’s Military Memorials.
In addition to the 95 graves and memorials in Otley Cemetery, there are 31 other memorials. It is surprising that there are not more. In both World Wars many men who worked in the printing engineering factories the leather industry, the paper mill and the textiles industries joined the forces and were killed, but the only ‘industrial’ memorial is in Grove Hill Park, donated by the Otley Mills companies of Ackroyd’s and Duncan-Barraclough. The only ‘educational’ memorial is the 1939-1945 plaque at Prince Henry’s Grammar School. Thirty-five ex-pupils of the Otley National School were killed in the First World War, but there is no known memorial.
The Memorial Garden War Memorial was dedicated in 1956 in tribute to the fallen in the Second World War. In August 1966 the Memorial Cross, sited originally in the Parish Churchyard was moved to the Memorial Garden. The Cross was dedicated to the fallen in the First World War. There was no Civic First World War Memorial in Otley, making it one of the few towns without one.
Marjorie England grew up in Crow Lane and when she found her dad’s old photos of the streets she called home, along with his newspaper cuttings about local events, the memories came flooding back. What started as a chance discovery turned into a passionate hunt to find out more secrets of those streets and endless hours of research revealed some fascinating stories. This led to a new book about this part of Otley which is available from The Bookshop on the Square