During my stay in Reykjavik in Iceland, I didn’t buy any books. This is very unusual for me, particularly as the majority of books were in English.
Tucked away behind a busy, tourist filled road was: ‘Books and Chocolate,’ small, artistically displayed and inviting. I really fancied a book of Norse legends and picked it up several times. But, and it was a big but, the English price on the back was £12.99 and I was being asked for the equivalent of £30. Just couldn’t do it. I bought a couple of postcards instead to slightly salve my conscience.
The girl at the cash desk was the owner and was bringing chocolate into the bookshop mix. You could sit at tables outside and drink hot chocolate or you could buy 3 books and be given a slab of Icelandic chocolate. It was a novel approach.
Do you need something sweet to eat whilst reading I wonder? A friend has sugared almonds in a little china dish beside her bed to suck whilst reading. I could worry about her teeth. My accompaniment is nearly always a cup of Earl Grey tea. Works for me.
The only other bookshop that I came across was annoyingly firmly closed. We spent a considerable time looking in the large and well arranged windows. Not a bestseller in sight. Instead there was a very intellectual and eclectic collection including science, art, history and much more. Although there was much to interest us, we couldn’t spend our money! The sign on the door was in Icelandic but I decided I could grasp its meaning. There were numbers showing dates, some writing and a childlike drawing of the sun. So, the owners were away on holiday for a few days and had gone to find the sun. As this was a heatwave week (not in Iceland of course) they may have found more sunshine than they bargained for!
No bookshop riches in Iceland then. Waterstones has not yet reached this northern island. I wonder about Amazon.