Collected Books

Collected Books Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Collected Books, Book shop, 44 The Riverwalk, Durham.

We have a winner! The 2025 International Booker winner has been announced and ‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq, translated b...
21/05/2025

We have a winner! The 2025 International Booker winner has been announced and ‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, takes the prize 🏆

We’re thrilled at the result and thought this years line up was phenomenal… funnily enough the team has read all of the women’s shortlist apart from ‘Heart Lamp’ (Frankie is halfway through!!) but can’t wait to delve in! If you haven’t yet got your hands on these brilliant books or had a look at our new-in translated fiction, what are you waiting for?!

Both the author, Agnes Lidbeck, and the translator (from Swedish), Nichola Smalley, of the novel ‘Supporting Act’ will be joining us on 16 June @ 6.30pm for translated Book Club. ‘Supporting Act’ follows a women’s surrender to motherhood and looks into questions of desire and performance. It sounds fantastic and you can sign up for free in-store of just by sending us a message…

Collected Pub Quiz, round two baby! 📚 🧐So we know you lot all read A LOT…it’s time to put that literary and book-adjacen...
16/05/2025

Collected Pub Quiz, round two baby! 📚 🧐

So we know you lot all read A LOT…it’s time to put that literary and book-adjacent pop culture knowledge to use! If you fancy yourself a bit of a book wiz, or just love a good challenge (and a drink), why not come along?

The last quiz we did went down a treat and we know how much you all love to yap about books, eat cake and drink delicious beverages 😉

The quiz will be on Friday the 27th of June from 7pm - tickets are avalaible on our website and in-store for £3.50, get em while you can!! 🕶️

✨Vibe check✨ What reading worlds have Morgan and Caly been immersing themselves in you ask? Caly has been reading a lot ...
13/05/2025

✨Vibe check✨ What reading worlds have Morgan and Caly been immersing themselves in you ask?

Caly has been reading a lot of optimistic non-fiction essays in an attempt to feel less gloomy about the world… they worked a treat! She particularly enjoyed Rebecca Solnit’s new thoughtful, compassionate and hopeful collection reflecting on a range of topics from the climate crisis to masculinity and MORE. She’s a fantastic writer and meanders through personal anecdotes and dense political theory on current ‘Uneven Terrain’ beautifully!

Morgan has found herself being drawn towards books featuring road trips. Whether it’s the opportunity for sibling bonding that appears in “Slags”, the reconnection of distant friends of “Moon Road”, or the devious mission of a protagonist in “Bad Nature” - Road trips seem to encompass both chances and challenges, adventures both good and bad.

What vibes have you all been channelling?? We’d love to hear 😉

🕶️FACT for FICTION 🕶️ To honour all of the wonderful new non-fiction we have (which is too often overlooked in its dark ...
12/05/2025

🕶️FACT for FICTION 🕶️ To honour all of the wonderful new non-fiction we have (which is too often overlooked in its dark corner downstairs 😉) we have paired some of our new-in fiction with a kindred factual partner….

Whether you’d like to delve deeper into the history of those mythical retellings we all love or grimly discover that dystopians are much closer to reality than we’d like to admit, there’s something for everyone (including cat theory)!!

If you’ve had your eye on Charlotte Paradise’s new novel ‘Overspill’, which is a journey of pleasure, pain and reclaiming the body you might also be interested in our upcoming event with Melissa Febos on June 25th. She will be talking about her book ‘The Dry Season’ which documents finding pleasure in a year without s*x - it looks fantastic and tickets are £5.00 online and in-store!

If you want the best start to your week, we are open until 6pm today serving all the best coffee, cake and books 📚✨

And the glorious weather continues for the Sunday team! Frankie has just finished Isabel Allende’s new novel ‘My Name is...
11/05/2025

And the glorious weather continues for the Sunday team!

Frankie has just finished Isabel Allende’s new novel ‘My Name is Emilia del Valle’, an innovative historical fiction about a female journalist navigating the Chilean Civil War. She’s moving onto V. E. Schwab’s ‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil’ (first chapter is just brilliant!) which we were lucky enough to get a proof copy of but she’s also starting Leigh Bardugo’s ‘The Familiar’ (also set in 16th century Europe…)! We still have signed editions and tote bags for ‘Bury our Bones…’ on the website to pre-order AND this copy of ‘The Familiar’ is an indie SPECIAL edition that you can also get your hands on in store right now!

Emma has just started Jodie Matthews’s ‘Meet me At the Surface’ for book club! Eerie, spooky, strange beings on the moor, this is a love letter to Cornish folklore! She’s taken home a copy of Emma Stonex’s ‘The Sunshine Man’, a gripping revenge thriller set in the late 80s against the hills of rural Devon. A very South Western pair!!!

We’re open till 5 today with plenty of books, coffee and cake to keep you refreshed on this sleepy sunny Sunday - long may the sun continue!! (We also have books about climate change if this weather worries you more than you enjoy it…) 🌦️

MORE new books!! You thought that was all? THINK AGAIN (we had another massive new-in book delivery late yesterday after...
09/05/2025

MORE new books!! You thought that was all? THINK AGAIN (we had another massive new-in book delivery late yesterday afternoon full of long awaited publications that we just couldn’t let you all miss out on) 😂

These include paperback indie exclusive editions of Leigh Bardugo’s ‘The Familiar’, paperback copies of Tracy Chevalier’s ‘The Glassmaker’, Kat Hill’s ‘Bothy’, carnivorous plants, Barbara Kingsolver AND much more…

If you’re out enjoying the sun and are in need of refreshment in the form of coffee (wine and beer also available!) and books, we’re open all the way up to 8pm tonight 💞

All who love Virginia Woolf say aye… aye! 📚We have beautiful new Vintage Classic editions of a plethora of her revolutio...
07/05/2025

All who love Virginia Woolf say aye… aye! 📚

We have beautiful new Vintage Classic editions of a plethora of her revolutionary works: To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway and A Room of One’s Own. If you’ve yet to read any of the above, there’s no better excuse than these gorgeous copies… The paperback Vintage Classic editions are also just as pretty!

If you fancy a little browse of our fancy classics section or any of the other corners of our lovely little shop, we’re open til 6pm ☕️

Hot, sweaty books for hot sweaty days (niche book recommendation alert)… 🥵🌞💧🕶️Since the sun is shining, the air is heavy...
02/05/2025

Hot, sweaty books for hot sweaty days (niche book recommendation alert)… 🥵🌞💧🕶️

Since the sun is shining, the air is heavy and this surprising heat is starting to feel slightly like a fever-dream, have a book to match!

We love a good sweltering book in which sun is slowly oppressive, claustrophobic and inescapable… think ‘Spoilt Creatures’ and ‘The Artist’, sweaty right?! If you’re down for something trembling with heat, often expectedly s*xy but in actuality scary and unsettling (though we have those too! 😉), you’re in the right place!

Included in this sweaty stack is Linea Maja Ernst’s ‘Waist Deep’ which we will not stop yapping on about, it’s a brilliant and pulsing read - she’s joining us for an event on May 12th, tickets available online and in-store!

We are open until 8pm tonight, providing respite from the unrelenting heat with air-conditioning, cold drinks, delicious wine and beer, great books and chat… 💞

It’s the first of the month and that means new book of the month! May’s BOTM is Sayaka Murata’s new translation of ‘Vani...
01/05/2025

It’s the first of the month and that means new book of the month! May’s BOTM is Sayaka Murata’s new translation of ‘Vanishing World’, first published in 2015 in Japan, but brought to our thankful hands by Ginny Tapley Takemori’s translation!

This is quite obviously Frankie’s bread and butter, so she naturally read it in 24 hours and it’s rocketed up to her top 5 of 2925 so far…

Frankie says… ‘Vanishing World’ chronicles a singular woman on her quest for s*xual identity and selfhood in a world that ostracises s*x, physicality and child birth. I wanted to scream into the book with how much I related to Amane’s feelings and yearning for normality, navigating her way through fictional relationships. Murata is the continual spokesperson for all of us who felt at odds with femininity, s*x and intimacy, and who continue to feel in a bubble in a (albeit wonderful and celebratory) world of body liberation and sensuality.

This excerpt from the Guardian sums up my love for Murata’s voice and my unwavering respect for her work: ‘Murata herself considers […] motherhood “a curse” that would put an end to her life as a writer. Much of her writing involves imaginative attempts to resolve the biological fatalism of being female with humanity’s need to procreate.’

We’re open till 8 tonight to accompany a gorgeous day in Durham; wine, beer, fizzy softs, cake and coffee to accompany a beautiful day of book buying, ESPECIALLY THIS BOOK!!!!

No Sunday Scaries in Collected cause we’re so excited about our next reads 🥰🥰🥰 Frankie is reading Jo Harkin’s ‘The Prete...
27/04/2025

No Sunday Scaries in Collected cause we’re so excited about our next reads 🥰🥰🥰

Frankie is reading Jo Harkin’s ‘The Pretender’, a fantastically sharp historical fiction based on the aftermath of Richard III’s reign. She’s excited for Sayaka Murata’s ‘Vanishing World’, a novel about how weird being normal is in a near-future world of disconnected living.

Caly has just finished Krystelle Bamford’s ‘Idle Grounds’ which was a cooky experiment of a novel told around a group of children hunting for their missing friend. She’s just started Tiffany McDaniel’s ‘On the Savage Side’ which is a dark and moving portrayal of sisterhood, trauma and embodiment.

Come and keep the Sunday Scaries away in here, open till 5 for all your book rec needs and coffee needs!! Books, coffee and a hint of sun: perfect Sunday in Durham 💛

New book Thursday BAP (Big A** Pile) This is one of the most exciting new book Thursday’s in a while!! New Emily Henry, ...
24/04/2025

New book Thursday BAP (Big A** Pile)

This is one of the most exciting new book Thursday’s in a while!! New Emily Henry, Sayaka Murata, Essie Fox, Wendy Joseph, Laura Spinney… MEOW!! (and New Kathryn Hughes ‘Catland’!!!) 🐈

Charlotte Mendelson’s ‘Wife’, Naomi Kelsey’s ‘The Darkening Globe’ and Emily Henry’s ‘Great Big Beautiful Life’ are all certified fab by Emma, Frankie’s just auto-bought Murata’s ‘Vanishing World’ and is currently reading Jo Harkin’s ‘The Pretenders’ before she passes it onto her mum!! (Don’t ask Frankie about the princes in the tower or you’ll be in for a conspiracy lecture)

Open till 6:30PM tonight because social club is taking over the joint… but here till then for all these new book wonders, coffee and cake!!

Keep eye for the May social club announcement tomorrow 📣

Address

44 The Riverwalk
Durham
DH14SL

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

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