A Bookstore Review: Queer Lit, Manchester

I have been to Manchester recently, staying with my brother and hanging out with pals. I was looking for a bookshop that could entice me and make me want to sit down and take it all in. Then I found the Queer Lit bookshop. Serving up coffee and cocktails, it is the largest LGBTQ+ bookshop in Europe. With an incredible atmosphere of plants and a decor that whispers instead of shouts, it is beautiful bookshop in central Manchester that actually appeals to people who read. Let’s go through the things that I loved and noticed about this bookshop.

First of all, the location is more than efficient. Only being a ten minute walk from my brother’s apartment where I was staying is not only a plus, it makes for easy access, convenience and serves to be dead centre of all the places that I need to go. Spanning two floors with one of those floors containing expansive plants that make the whole place smell fantastic means that this shop is already at the top of my list for not only atmosphere and efficiency of access, but coffee and scents as well.

Secondly, it is part and parcel to the millennial experience. A quiet place to sit and read. A coffee shop where you will see people with tattoos sitting on laptops or some people enjoying a coffee, this might be a queer lit bookstore but it is open to everyone and seems to be the best place in the centre of the city to relax with a bit of peace and quiet. I’ll be damned if I buy no books from here. As someone who’s favourite books include ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘Interview with the Vampire’ alongside ‘Brideshead Revisited’ and ‘Cloud Atlas’ - my favourite books just scream queer literature. Why? At it’s time it was so taboo and reviled that anyone who wrote it was automatically a pariah. But, they are the rebels that push literature forward. They are what stops us falling into Fahrenheit 451.

Queer Lit, Manchester is one of the most popular joints for coffee and books I have seen in a while, it makes me happy to see a coffee and book shop doing so well whilst also serving up some serious espresso and managing to keep the books as tidy as physically possible. With their two floors of seating, they barely have enough space to accommodate everyone and yet, they manage with little frustration and a friendly atmosphere. This brings me on to the third thing. Everyone here is very friendly. It really adds to the quality of the bookstore and really makes you want to buy something. The people who work here make the experience of sitting down with a drink a lot nicer because unlike many other places that operate in the town centre, there is no boredom or distance that comes from the staff. Everyone is approachable and kind. The people make the atmosphere and this shop has a lot of it.

I know I do not normally do a bookstore review but I feel like I have to for this one because where I am from, this kind of bookstore (independent and has a nice, friendly atmosphere) would never survive. It would be immediately pushed off the streets by the next Waterstones or Foyles. At the end of the day, we all want independent bookstores to survive but who knew that this one was going to be so incredible? I believe that this one might be regular for every time I come to Manchester from now on. With its efficiency of travel, its lovely hues and low-playing background music, its very millennial tastes, its kind staff and its general beauty, I think that Queer Lit might be on to something as a bookstore and I wish they would open a branch in Birmingham (but I know it wouldn’t survive because of the damn Waterstones and Foyles being everywhere).

I don’t get to go to a lot of independent bookstores and normally, I have nobody to go with. But this has been more than a great experience for me with Queer Lit becoming one of my favourite independent bookstores ever. Its lovely coffee and its atmosphere for reading places it high above the loud jostle of the chain bookstore.