What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

Bent Spines

Book shop specialising in LGBTQIA+ works.

30/09/2026

Q***r by Gum's next 7 months of book club books have been announced and I'm delighted to offer those attending the book club a discounted bundle for it. If you're less committed, there's also a 10% discount for individual titles ordered for the book club as well. Order form through the QR code here.

27/09/2026

It's just me and one other trader at Lancaster Uni's Arrivals Weekend today, so come on down and make our days. Books are out and we're all ready to go!

26/09/2026

PRESTON, everything is out and I'm begging you show up for pride and make my car lighter. Stop by while you're being merry and gay, grab some books and bits and party!

23/09/2026

If you've been to the stall, there's a chance you've heard me complain about the cost of getting an online shop built (each book is a product, each product needs a page, and smarter computer folk than I can build something that makes it all work, but for £££). FOR NOW, I've made a simple order form for people to use. Links are up and ready, but for the ggt on the move, here's a qr to link you to it as well. You can, also, slide into my DMs.

22/09/2026

Quick one to say that I'm planning to just do Saturdays on the Charter Market in Lancaster for the time being. Hopefully will see my weekday regulars on the weekend. Shop's also all booked and ready for Lancaster Uni's market this coming term, so catch me there on a Thursday from Welcome Week (01 October) through to 26 November.

I'll also be a Preston Pride this weekend (26 September), so head there; it'll be cute. Event space and stalls will be outside the Harris, open from 11am, and the march will start from outside Fishergate Shopping Centre (due to start at 10.30).

And maybe catching some freshers and parents at Lancaster University's Arrivals Weekend on Sunday.

19/09/2026

Books are out, bits are out. Found some gay dinosaur stickers and yet more frogs and ghosts to join the party. And bookish pronoun pins are back! On cheapside until 4.30pm for today's market.

Spotlight
Mason Deaver, SHIP HAPPENS
transmasc romance at sea!
Welcome aboard Pacific Coast Cruises! Destination: Alaska. Surprise Guest: the ex who broke your heart.
A year after their breakup, Owen thought he'd never see Jacob again - let alone spend a week trapped on a cruise ship with him. He agrees to he civil, friendly even, with Jacob, but the breathtaking vistas and close quarters are conspiring against him. Will Owen keep his walls up as the ship sails the icy waters?

Ryan Gilbey, It Used To Be Witches: A Journey Through Q***r Cinema
Personal memoir x film criticism and candid interviews with q***r filmmakers, Gilbey's eclectic and revealing book provides a treasure hunt through q***r cinema past and present.

If youre early enough, catch me playing with some fairy lights to help create atmosphere in the book cave. Here until 4.30.

16/09/2026

All up and running for today's markets, with plenty of new titles arriving in the last couple of days. Can't spotlight them all, but the Romance, Fiction, Horror and Fantasy sections are all looking much healthier, and the selection of graphic novels continues to grow.
On Cheapside until 4.30. I have no helper for packing up today, so do me a solid and lighten the stall's load.

NEW IN
Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, We Are Green And Trembling
Trans conquistador deserter hides in the jungle and things get weird(er). Longlisted for this year's International Booker.From deep in the wilds of the New World, Antonion de Erauso writes a letter to his aunt, the prioress of the convent he escaped as a young girl. Since leaving his past behind, he's become Antonio, conquistador. Now, hiding in the jungle and hounded by the army he deserted, Antonio is caring for two Guaraní girls he rescued from enslavement.

E. J. Swift, When There Are Wolves Again
Winner of the British Science Fiction Association's Best Novel Award. Ecofiction that laces together despair, tragedy and hope. Decades from now, two women sit beside a campfire and reflect on their life stories. For 50 years, they have fought to restore Britain's depleted natural landscape, and to give voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Both dream of a time when there are wolves again.

Dylan Mulvaney, Paper Doll
The trans icon's memoir is now available in paperback. When Dylan Mulvaney came out as a woman online, she was a viral sensation and became a trailblazing voice on social media. Within a year, she became victim.of right-wing backlash. Paper Doll sees Mulvaney reflect on her life pre- and post- medical transition, looking at moments from her break into theater, to her dad's first recognition of her as a girl, to scandals and cancellation. Mulvaney's notes from a late bloomer is a love letter to everyone who stands up for q***r joy.

12/09/2026

Get your boat out and sail along river Cheapside. It's a horrible day, but if you're out and fancy browsing the market, we've got new books in (which probably aren't happy to be debuting in this rain). Particularly excited about the glut of graphic novels that came in

New titles
Máire Roche, Bromantasy
This might be the dumbest, silliest book I'll ever have in stock. Juniper O'Reilly is good at only two things: demolishing a pint of mead and finding the perfect skincare routine. Everything else - taking care of the farm, any sort of manual labour - falls to Juniper's best friend, the absurdly capable, endlessly patient Mo Elmthorn. But when Juniper accidentally volunteers them both for a quest to kill a fearsome monster, he knows he's finally gotten in over his head.
Follow these two himbos on their adventure as they camp, forage, exchange lingering glances and bicker their way to the monster.

Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
Oppressive Catholic establishment keeps putting le****ns together. As the Good Shepherd Refuge, Mairin O'hara spends her days in the industrial laundry, where steam burns and secrets are shared by girls whose only offences are being gay, pregnant, orphaned, or unwilling to obey. When a travelling library comes to the Refuge, Mairin sees a chance to escape. Will she take it?

Rebecca Birrell, Venus, Vanishing
Literary historical romance. Berlin, 1928. Hannah is new to the pleasures and freedoms of the city. She is a fledging artist, a runaway, building a new life for herself in its galleries and clubs, and, at last, loving without boundaries. But a consuming affair with her patron, Elke, threatens to ruin both of their reputations. Around them, people are disappearing and the shadows of something unspeakable are growing darker in the city. The word "blistering" comes to mind for this story of sapphic desire and resistance.

Here until we're washed away.

10/09/2026

Going to be doing a little bonus market this weekend on Sunday. There'll be me and my selection of gay books and bits, in addition to 12 other locals artists and makers, one of whom I stock! Come nosey around this Sunday, support local artists, and then have a coffee/pint in the gregson.

And pray that all the books I've just ordered arrive in time 😭

09/09/2026

All set up for today's market, where I plan to stay for at least a couple of weeks (Preston Pride on 26 September is my next Saturday away - head there instead, it'll be fun).

Usual suspects and genres out today, though some are a little more anaemic than I'd like (recommend me some stock to order?)

Spotlight
Michael Hall, A Q***r Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National Trust
If you like stately homes, but wanted them to be gay(er), here's a good start. Hall explores not only the Known Gay Places (Lawrence of Arabia at Clouds Hill, Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst), but also newly unveiled stories that q***r Trust sites like that of the le***an communities at Smallythe. Read it, visit a camp posh house and revel in q***r history.

Isha Raya, Triple Threat
This gives me Dial A for Aunties levels of silly. It's not a murder, it's a career move. Struggling actress Dimple Kapoor has, accidentally, pushed her rival down the stairs and killed her (though it's not the first time she's killed...) With this death comes a great opportunity to boost her acting profile - her dream role - but someone witnessed the incident and another is hot on her tail.
Silly thriller laced with sapphic sparks against the backdrop of Hollywood intrigue and celebrity.

On Cheapside, opposite Greggs and Black Sheep until 4.30

Address

Lancaster

Opening Hours

Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Website

https://www.bentspines.co.uk/, https://forms.gle/RrQURYuPGZx727YR8

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