Manchester Book Market

Fantastic place. I’m from London but I’ve spent the last four or five years living in Manchester. People are forever asking me what I think of Manchester, and I always say that its got everything. One of the few things it really lacks though, is second hand bookshops. Browsing the second hand bookshops in London is a great day-​trip in itself, but in Manchester you rarely find a good second hand book, let alone a place with a good number worth looking at.
I should mention The Art of Tea in Didsbury here, which is probably the only exception to the rule, apart from Manchester Book Market. I study English literature so you can imagine this is pretty close to my heart.
Not only can you get rare books for good prices here, but they genuinely have a wide selection so if it’s a classic you’re after then you’ve a good chance of picking it up for a couple of squids. They’ve usually got all Dickens (who could want anything more) as well as plenty of other classic works.
Spend £10-£20 quid and get yourself half a dozen quality books. Plus some great editions. I too picked up a gem in a colour-​illustrated copy of Oliver Twist.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m a bookworm? And I like markets? That would make this pretty darn perfect then wouldn’t it.
St. Ann’s Square, that perfect little spot for the quaint and quirky stalls making up markets of Christmas, flowers, art, food and fashion, is also home every now and again to an exchange of literature. I’m afraid there aren’t any definite dates, you simply need to find out when the book market is on from the website. Keeping track of Manchester magazines like Large and CityLife will help with this. (We don’t talk about Manchester Confidential any more.)
As we all know second hand books can be cheap as chips, and this is your opportunity to grab some rare and unusual reads. Come here for something to take on your next holiday or if you’re stuck for a subject to write an essay on. There’s plenty to choose from, and I don’t know about you but for me there’s just something about books which have already been read several times that makes them all the more special. It was here that I managed to get a first edition copy of a Victorian novel I was including in my thesis, which is probably worth a fair bit of money now.
Literary nest eggs. Now there’s a concept I’ll happily get on board with.