Welcome

"A kind of dream bookshop and small town cafe."  Neil Gaiman

WINNER - Children's Independent Bookseller of the Year - The Bookseller Industry Awards 2010

WINNER - New Business of the Year 2010 - Scottish Borders Business Excellence Awards

Based in the beautiful Scottish Borders village of St Boswells (just off the A68), we are passionate about books, coffee and the pleasure of shopping for beautiful things. Whether you are based locally, visiting the area on holiday or just passing through on the way to Edinburgh or Newcastle, there are lots of reasons to visit.  The bookshop is the heart of what we do, with over 6,500 titles in stock (and space for many more as we grow). We believe that reading should start from the earliest possible age, so our children’s section is particularly important to the shop, from Edward Ardizzone to Harry Potter. That said, we cater for readers of all ages and tastes, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for we can order it from a range of over 750,000 titles often for next day delivery.

"They are an exciting new business that has brought fresh life to a village high street.  They employ local people, stock local books, serve local food, and, I believe, could well become an icon for rural business in the Borders and across Scotland." John Lamont, MSP

News and recent author events:

And so to The Bookseller Industry Awards held at the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday 17th May...

We WON Children's Independent Bookseller of the Year!!  It was very unexpected not least because we were the only general bookshop on a shortlist full of excellent children's specialists, but also because we were seated almost at the back of the huge hall for the awards dinner (usually a bad sign).  Another thrill was having the award presented by the extremely talented and prize-winning children's author, Patrick Ness.

“…. It’s just a perfect venture and, if you looked at any sort of retailing strategy or guidelines you probably wouldn’t set up a shop like this in a village in the Border Country, however, they have done that, it’s been going from strength to strength, it’s clearly a destination and we really wish them well.” Jo Howard, awards judge

BOOKS, BORDERS & BIKES at Traquair House 14-15th August - We are delighted to announce that The Mainstreet Trading Company will be running the bookshop at this exciting new literary festival.  For more information and to purchase tickets, please pick up a leaflet at The Mainstreet Trading Company or contact Traquair direct on 01896 830323 or www.traquair.co.uk.  Bike hire can be arranged locally through Alpine Bikes, tel: 01896 830880.

FRIDAY 18th June - MICHAEL MORPURGO gave the most wonderful event to launch his new book, Not Bad for a Bad Lad, at The Mainstreet Trading Company.  He had a packed house of adults and children listening with rapt attention as he talked about his writing and in particular some of the true stories that had inspired his work.

WEDNESDAY 2nd June - Tom Carver gave an entertaining and very personal talk about his book, Where the Hell Have you Been.  "In November 1942, two nights after the Battle of El Alamein, a young British army officer was captured by German forces. As the Nazis deliberated about what to do with him and his peers, Richard Carver had particular reason to be afraid: unknown to anyone else, he was the stepson of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who had just inflicted the first serious land defeat on the Third Reich..."

For more information on events, please see our Events page, or email info@mainstreetbooks.co.uk.

Follow us on twitter: @mainstreethare

Shortlisted for Scotland and the North Independent Bookseller of the Year 2010

Shortlisted (and Highly Commended) for Independent Bookseller of the Year 2009 (Bookseller Retail Awards) and The Scottish Countryside Alliance Rural Enterprise Award 2009

'The Judges loves the energy and innovation at the heart of this bookshop in the Scottish Borders which began in June 2008 and is already achieving great things. "From a standing start, they have built an incredibly professional business," enthused one judge. The store's family-friendly layout, lively front-of-house children's area, free storytelling for pre-schoolers and the numerous author events were just some of the store's praiseworthy achievements." ' The Bookseller magazine

Shortlisted for Scottish Independent Bookshop of the Year 2009 (The British Book Awards)