Welcome back to Got Books, the podcast where we talk to booksellers all around the world. My guest today is Alex, co-founder of the first and only bookshop selling new english books in Lisbon, Portugal, Salted Books. This conversation was yet another proof, in case you needed one, that women can indeed do it all, if they set their mind to it. Alex has started Salted Books with her partner Mark, and she has done so without giving up her work and while raising two children. She’s created a magical space that only opened its doors about 5 months ago but has already received raving reviews from readers and writers in Lisbon, and if you head over to their Instagram page you’ll see why. The book curation couldn’t be more relevant, the design of the space is bold and beautiful and it just feels fresh and exciting and like you want to be there. Alex is also hosting intimate and very safe writing spaces, where early on a Tuesday mornings writers come together to write in silence, by candlelight. She’s bringing new voices to Lisbon and encouraging those in Lisbon to write and get creative. This conversation felt encouraging and uplifting and it confirmed a suspicion I’ve had for a while now, interviewing bookshop owners all around the world: starting and running a bookshop is a bit of an art form and there’s a lot of artistic freedom in how it can be done. Here’s my conversation with Alex.

Many of you may know that the main reason Got Books started, years ago, was that I wanted to have my own bookshop and so I figured it would be good to chat to lots of booksellers before I start what seemed like ..a bit of a wild adventure. Then..years passed, many conversations with booksellers were had, but I kept putting this dream of opening a bookshop on hold, for all sorts of reasons. I’m sure you can relate..there’s never a perfect time. A couple of weeks ago though, a small, cozy, kind of perfect location became available in my village so I decided to just go for it..I’ve signed a lease and, together with a few other neighbors and friends who are also really into books, just like you and me, we’re slowly putting together what may be the world’s smallest bookshop. It will be a side project for now, as I do have a full time job that I very much love and a two year old daughter that keeps me entertained and busy, but it’s happening, I’ll open a bookshop. I see it as a community project, since so many people are already contributing with ideas, books, pieces of furniture, their time.. and with that in mind, I have a favour I’d like to ask. If Got Books is a podcast that you enjoy and you’ve been on this bookshop dreaming journey with me, I’d love to ask for you to become a small part of this bookshop too. One way to do that would be to send me one or a few books you’d like to donate to my bookshop, and I’ll post the mailing address in the show notes; if you could add a note inside each book about why you chose it, why you liked it..I’ll make sure that your notes go up on the shelves too, for all to see. It would mean so much to me to get books from around the world from Got Books listeners and have these be some of the very first books as we open our doors. Another way to support this brand new bookshop, especially if you live far from Spain and sending books my way doesn’t feel like the most climate friendly thing to do, is to send me suggestions for how to name the bookshop. It may seem strange that I don’t have a name yet, given how long I’ve been thinking about it, but..I do not, so if you feel inspired, send me ideas on how to name a bookshop that is small, cozy, in a Spanish village by the sea, selling books in both English and Spanish. Feel free to email me your ideas a gotbookspodcast@gmail.com

Thank you so much for listening and would love to get books and name ideas from you! In the meantime, I’m working on new Got Books episodes and looking forward to the second meetup of the Future Booksellers Club, happening on Feb 24th. You can come too, by registering at gotbookspodcast.com

Until next time, sit back, relax and enjoy a good book!

Mailing address for books:

Antonia Caraveteanu

Calle Embajadores 29, 04638, Mojacar, Spain

Welcome back to Got Books, the podcast where we talk to booksellers all around the world. My guest today is Edgars, owner of Robert’s Books, in Riga, Latvia. Robert’s Books was Riga’s first English bookshop and it has become, over the years, much more than that - a community space, a place to meet, work, relax, think, discuss, have fun, read and just be. It has also been a space for social experiments, one of its more recent ones involving a bit of a.. grey area: a sex shop inside the bookshop.

Robert’s Books first opened its doors in 2008 and since then has changed its location twice. Edgars story of how he came to own Robert’s Books is perhaps one of the most unbelievable stories I’ve come across, one fit for a novel. The father of Robert’s Books is journalist Robert Cottrell, who then gifted the shop to Edgars. Not a bad start to bookselling. Edgars was very young at the time, but he was not alone, he had a small team and together they not only kept the shop open, but they made it thrive and become the community and safe haven it is today. Here’s my conversation with Edgars.