Whenever I missed the bus home after school during my teenage years there was always a place I could go to across the street from the stop on Abbey Street in Dublin and this place was Chapters, where the shop was located back then in Dublin city.
Established in 1983, it’s moved around a bit, starting off in Wicklow Street then moving to St. Stephen’s Green and from there to Henry Street to around the corner to Abbey Street. Today, Chapters opens its doors in another part of town and is now located over on Parnell Street. The move there in 2006 allowed them to expand big time and it became the largest independent bookstore in Ireland.
As far back as I can remember Chapters was always a part of our lives growing up, be it for a place to get out of the rain, a place to browse books and music or a place to try and make a few quid from trading old stuff into them. I remember doing this, I remember my friends doing this and I remember my brothers doing this. It was simply part of life in those days.
Chapters is one of the best bookstores in the country and this is down to a number of factors. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and know how they should deal with customers, which in a bookstore means that ninety per-cent of the time it’s just best to leave people alone because they don’t mind losing themselves for a few hours amongst the shelves and finding their own way out. Of course that’s not to say they ignore people, I simply mean they handle them very well. Recently I couldn’t find a book and I asked a member of staff about it. He helped me look and it seemed they didn’t have it in stock, so I thanked him and continued to browse. He then found me about five minutes later after locating the book for me. So, even when it seemed they didn’t have it, he went off to double check without me asking him to, realised they did have it, found it and then found me again to give it to me. That was pretty cool of him and as it turned out, the book was excellent too.
The layout is another thing. It’s massive inside but the individual sections aren’t so big that you get overwhelmed by them. The first floor is where you’ll find all the best sellers, the new releases and the individual sections that cover off everything from your fiction, crime fiction, Sc-Fi and graphic novels. You’ll also find sections on everything from photography to psychology to art and music. At the back of the store is the children and teen sections and I’d hazard a guess that this section is also one of the biggest in the country, while upstairs is the second-hand section and you can still walk in with a pile of used books, cd’s and dvd’s and trade them in, be it for some cash or store credit.
Chapters is one of the few places I know in Dublin that is the ‘go to’ place for special editions, which is another great thing about what they do. Close to the checkout on the ground floor, they have a ‘gift books’ section and on its shelves you’ll find leather bound beautiful editions of some amazing books that have been written over time. They also stock Barnes & Noble editions, which are some of the nicest on the market anywhere today. These are pricey but when you see them you’ll understand why because they are the editions that are kept for lifetimes and passed down from generation to generation. They also stock special and anniversary editions as and when they are released. Recently I’ve been getting my hands on Terry Practhet’s Discworld series, re-released in great hardback editions in the ‘Unseen University’ collection. I also picked up a hardback anniversary copy of Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’ for ten euro, which in my opinion, was a bit of a steal.
Then there’s the Cinema Book Club that they have going on in conjunction with The Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield. Basically, once a month, The Lighthouse picks a film to screen that is based on a book and Chapters will give you 10% off a copy of that book if you mention the book club to them. You then read it and head to the screening, where the Lighthouse gives you 10% off your ticket when you show them the Chapters receipt for the book. After the movie you can stick around and chat about the book to movie adaptation with a group of likeminded people. It’s a pretty cool idea really. So, next time you’re in that part of town, looking for your next book, looking for a great present for the reader in your life, fancy taking part in the Cinema Book Club or just have an hour to spare, then get over to Chapters and have a nose around.
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The Recommended 