Richard Hirst

Today is World Book Day, when the public is encouraged to engage with books and seek out new reading experiences. Manchester’s literary heritage, stretching from Thomas de Quincey and Frances Hodgson Burnett to Howard Jacobson and Jeanette Winterson, has always been marked by a fierce sense of intelligence and independence. So what better time to look at those independent shops in and around the city where you can peruse, purchase and fall in love with their books? Manchester Book BuyersAlthough located in the busy city-centre thoroughfare of Church Street, Manchester Book Buyers is still easily overlooked. The last in the row of market-stalls, its perfunctory name and unsophisticated appearance belie an excellent bookshop. The tiny space is lined with densely-packed shelves, all loaded with the quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore which are the lifeblood of secondhand bookshops. The jumbled-high table of £1 books is also always worth digging around in: the copious Mills & Boon paperbacks often those obscure 1960’s sci-fi originals and little-known crime novels you’ve been seeking out.Church Street, city centre. EJ MortonEJ Morton is a dream of a bookshop, so much so that after a visit it can be difficult to believe it’s not some idealised, bygone-era archetype but a real bricks-and-mortar place. Found on a cobbled side-street, the unassuming exterior conceals a generous and busily-stocked space. EJ Mortan is much-frequented and much-beloved by locals, primarily becau