Finders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-hand Books

Synopsis

Season Highlight, Spring/Summer 2026 — The Bookseller

Finders, Keepers tells the stories that hide between the lines of the second-hand books that fill the shelves of charity shops and second-hand bookshops up and down the country. The author collects books. He collects books that contain bookmarks in the form of maps – he will read the book while walking the streets depicted on the map, provided he doesn't have to get on a plane to get there. He collects books given as Christmas presents. He collects books that have the same title as other books – he'll read both books and compare them. He might wonder – he might even ask – which one has the greater claim on the title. He collects books that he finds with business cards in them – instead of reading the book, he sends it to the individual named on the business card and asks them to read it instead. He collects ex-library books. He collects free books. Well, he looks at the books that people leave out on their garden wall in the rain and photographs then and mostly leaves them where they are.

Reviews of This Book

‘This book/art project is a lovely meander through his thoughts and opinions on what he’s reading and hears as he strolls the streets, returns lost books and ponders the ephemera left behind by previous readers.’ —Eithne Farry, The Simple Things

‘Avid readers and book-collecting enthusiasts will find much to enjoy in Nicholas Royle’s Finders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-Hand Books.’ —Martin Chilton, The Independent

‘Reading Finders, Keepers is a treat; Royle’s chatty, friendly style makes the experience feel like you’re having a wonderfully bookish conversation with a friend.’ —Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

‘The way it reads like a good pub conversation or chat with an interesting stranger on the train, makes its whole construction and flow seem easy … [It is] a form of autobiography that evades the obvious … an engaging, peculiar, original and at times hilarious read. I commend it to you.’ —Rupert Loydell, International Times

Praise for Previous Work

‘★★★★ If you're a book sort of person, you're going to enjoy this book, which is a book about books, by a book sort of person, and for book sort of people. Nicholas Royle is fast becoming the bibliophile's bibliophile.’ —Ian Sansom, The Telegraph

‘Royle invests more passion into his subject than EL James did in whips, and it’s all incredibly infectious. He leavens any perceived pedantry with droll self-deprecation and, personally, I haven’t laughed harder with a book for a long time.’ —Nick Duerden, Observer

‘This is a book about books and bookshops that will bring joy to every reader and collector, but it is also about the strangeness and sublimity of individuals, and our tender contacts with each other.’ —Mark Valentine, Wormwoodiana

‘Shadow Lines is all about the connections between humans and language and books and covers and art and walking and reading and collecting; the joy of tracking down titles and of lucky finds and random inclusions. It appears to be all about Nicholas Royle but actually it is about all of us who read.’ —Rupert Loydell, International Times