The North Recommends: Imagined Things
Imagined Things is a proudly independent bookshop inside the beautiful & iconic Westminster Arcade in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We opened in July 2017 and have recently celebrated our first year. Georgia opened the bookshop after years of working as a Diagnostic Radiographer. A lifelong reader & writer, her true love has always been imagined things & the books that contain them and opening the shop was a dream come true.
In Imagined Things we stock an eclectic range of the best fiction & non-fiction for adults & children. We pride ourselves on offering a having a unique & quirky collection – including one of our favourite series Science for Babies by Chris Ferrie, including titles such as “Quantum Physics for Babies”. Our mascot is the bookshop dragon and we have our very tiny bookshop fish right on the counter! We have just won the Macmillan Independent Innovation award which will see us launch Dragon Libraries in schools and an exciting reading adventure in store for local children based around the idea that there are imaginary dragons who feed on reading!
Books we’ve loved recently…
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge is a unusual twist on a ghost story as Makepeace has room for ghosts inside her. As the novel progresses you get very attached to Makepeace and her ghostly companions and we didn’t want it to end. The concept is great and it’s been the most loved book yet at our Book Club.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a breathtaking, decade-hopping, deep exploration about life and where your decisions take you. It follows four siblings who found out the date of their deaths by visiting a fortune teller when they were young and the impact this has on them all. The characters are completely real, the issues explored so true to life – it really is a stunning book!
Vox by Christina Dalcher is a startling modern reimagining of the Handmaid’s Tale. A terrifying vision of America where if you’re a woman you can only speak 100 w
ords a day or you’re electrocuted by the counter on your wrist. A fascinating new take on issues of control, freedom and women’s rights. Essential reading.
You Are Awesome by Matthew Syed is the book I wish I’d had growing up. Full of reassurance, motivation and advice yet not at all patronising. It is perfect to encourage our young people to reach for the stars, be anything they can be and not to let any fears or doubt that they are not good enough hold them back. It really is awesome!!
We love introducing authors to readers and have had a number of events since opening.
Author events coming up are…
Signing with Henry Blofeld on the 29th of September
Morning Event with A J Pearce (author of Dear Mrs Bird) 7th of October
With more events coming soon!
Our website is www.imaginedthings.co.uk, our Twitter twitter.com/ImaginedThings and our Facebook is at www.facebook.com/ImaginedThings/