I love books. I am and always have been a reader. I’m the kid who read the cereal box at breakfast. Who always had a book with me wherever I went. A family friend once teasingly asked whether I took a book to my own wedding. 

And in theory I also love bookshops. But I say in theory because the reality is sometimes I don’t like bookshops.

My name’s Alex and this podcast, Paper Defiance, is all about bookshops and the people who own them. So why do I sometimes not like bookshops? Because  when I walk in I know that neither my budget nor my time stretch to encompass all of the wonderful, wonderful, books confronting me. So my dislike is driven by my love. 

As is perhaps only natural, I have fantasised about owning a bookshop. But instead of doing that, I’m doing this podcast, where I’ll be talking to people from around the world who are responsible for those places that I both love and fear, about why they run them and the changes they’ve experienced in the business and what they love about their shops. We may also discuss actual books. Think of Paper Defiance as a fortnightly love letter to bookshops. I hope you’ll sign on. paperdefiance.com

Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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