Mr B's Emporium

Mr B's is a beautiful, energetic and innovative bookshop on John Street in the heart of Bath. It's a bright labyrinthine space where book-related chatter and advice seems ever-present and you never know what you might encounter next, from claw-foot bath book displays to toilets illustrated by Chris Riddell. We opened our shop in 2006 and it has twice been named the UK's best independent bookshop. In 2015 the Guardian named Mr B's one of the ten best bookshops in the world. Scroll onwards for more of our story or, better still, come and see us! Stepping into Mr B's, the chances are someone will ask if you'd like a recommendation. After years of hand-selling books, conducting Reading Spas and making personalised picks for our Reading Subscribers we're confident that we can find a book to suit your tastes. We boost our book knowledge by spending our time talking to customers, getting tips and feedback - Mr B's is a place where bookish chat is always on offer. Of course, if you prefer a quiet look around, that's fine too - we understand the thrill of the tranquil browse. If you can't make it to the shop then test us on our Recommendation Station! We believe in offering the highest possible level of customer service. That's partly about being able to order most in-print titles the next day or being like a dog-with-a-bone when tracking down for you that childhood book that you remember was blue and had a windmill on the cover. It's more than that though. It's running a shop that feels likes it's yours as well as ours. It's about instinctively knowing what books our regular customers will enjoy. It's about offering a memorable (if sometimes eccentric) experience to all visitors and about sharing and spreading our joyous book obsession with each of you. Just in case you ever find yourself wondering how Mr Bs came about, how bad we were at bookselling when we started or what weird stuff has happened between our walls over the years, weve written an unashamedly navel-gazing timeline for you to play with - and to help ...