Brighton's best bookshops: a literary walk

Brighton is one of those cities you can spend an entire afternoon in without ever leaving a few square blocks, and for anyone who likes browsing shelves, the North Laine and The Lanes are the place to do it. The two areas run right next to each other: the North Laine is the independent heart, full of vintage fashion, records and quirky gifts, while The Lanes are the narrow, historic streets known for jewellers and boutiques. Most of the independent shops in both close around 18:00, so it's worth planning your route before the shutters come down.

A good place to start is Books for Amnesty on Sydney Street, the charity second-hand shop run by volunteers since 2007, with all profits going to Amnesty International UK. It's easy to spot with its pink exterior and carries contemporary fiction, social sciences, art, poetry, drama, history and children's books, alongside Fairtrade gifts and Amnesty-branded products. The main shop floor is wheelchair accessible, and it opens Monday to Saturday 11:00 to 17:30 and Sunday 12:00 to 16:00. A few doors down, Dave's Comics deals in comics, collectibles, Funko Pops, manga and board games, while the Last Bookshop on Gardner Street keeps things cheap, with books at £5 or less.

For something more specific, The Feminist Bookshop on Upper North Street opened in November 2019 after a successful crowdfunding campaign and stocks books by and about women, non-binary and marginalised people. It's also a plant-based coffee shop, a donation point for the Brighton Women's Centre, and home to a reading club, a 'Poetry's Political Book Club' and a hidden staircase leading to a reading refuge. It opens Wednesday and Thursday 11:00 to 17:00 and Friday to Sunday 11:00 to 18:00, with a ramp for access but no toilet facilities. Over in The Lanes, Goldsboro Books at 22b Ship Street is the Brighton branch of the London specialist in first editions, new and second-hand, rare and collectable, with prices running from £80 to £11,000 and a subscription service that sends a signed first-edition fiction paperback each month.

If you're after a bargain, the Oxfam Bookshop on Kensington Gardens is worth the detour. Tucked into a historic alleyway with quirky buildings, it's been called the most colourful Oxfam shop in the UK and is busiest at weekends and during holidays, with vintage books sporting illustrated covers and Oxfam-branded gifts. It opens Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:30 and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00, and is closed on Sundays. For something truly offbeat, The Smallest Bookshop in Brighton is roughly the size of a market stall and pops up at The Open Market on Marshalls Row, usually on Sundays, with two other tiny outlets tucked into pubs: The Independent Taproom and Beer Shop on Queens Park Road and The Dover Castle on Southover Street.

Beyond the centre, The Kemptown Bookshop sits in a Regency three-storey house on St George's Road, with two floors of new books and gifts and a quiet writers' space at the top, open Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:30. And if you don't mind a short trip into Hove, City Books on Western Road has been going since the mid-1980s and is known for its local-interest section, including 'Secret Brighton' and 'Secret Sussex', as well as literary evenings that have brought in the likes of Nick Cave, Peter James, Jo Brand and Mary Beard. It opens Monday to Saturday 09:30 to 17:30 and Sunday 11:00 to 16:30.