Some writers are wary of bookshops. It is not the bright lights or the sharp smell of all that new ink, increasingly mingled these days with the aroma of fresh coffee: it is just the sight of all those books – thousands of them. ‘Why am I doing this?’ they think. ‘Does the world really need yet another book? What’s the point of it all?’ But then they read a new novel – it might even ... (read more)