The Second Shelf
@secondshelfbks
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Rare books by and about women and non-binary writers. Shop by appointment from our office near Hampsted Heath or shop online! Email: info @thesecondshelf .com
North London
Joined October 2017
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Booksellers are not required to like or sell every book published. They do not have to offer every author an event. Publishers don't have to publish bigots. Having an opinion about a book is a booksellers job. Even if it is "it's rubbish." Losing your job for saying so is wrong.
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Oops. She blocked a bookstore of books by women. We're sure that was a mistake.
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👏Women👏are👏not👏endangered👏by👏women👏who👏are👏trans👏. This anger and fear and energy should be directed at male violence. We are tired of certain women writers of a cemented acclaim and status portraying women as victims of trans people. It endangers lives.
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Report from the front lines of being a bookshop:
A woman walked in today and said "Saw your sign. Books by women! Can I ask a controversial question - are trans women women?” And we said “yes!” enthusiastically. She said “They aren’t are they? Anatomy is anatomy!”
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And we said “We absolutely disagree, your premises are misguided. We support trans women here, and we won’t discuss it further.”
And she said “I can’t in good conscience recommend your shop then!”
And we said “oh no! What a tragic loss.”
Then we sold a book to another customer.
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Making a donation to
@Mermaids_Gender
every time we sell J K Rowling. 💥
Couldn’t resist a visit to
@secondshelfbks
on our London trip. Found a first edition
@CursedChildLDN
script to add to my
#HarryPotter
collection 😍🎉
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Do you know what is not cool? Denying the rights of someone else's existence who has done nothing to you, threatened nothing of yours, and hurt no one, in order that you might feel someone safer with your lack of understanding about their sex and/or gender.
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We sell books. Our shorthand is "books by women" but we aren't investigating or compelled by anatomy. That would be wrong. We are compelled by who is being overlooked, who is being underserved, who belongs in collections, libraries, archives, and universities that isn't there.
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ALERT! THIS IS THE THIRD TIK TOK WE'VE SEEN LIKE THIS THIS WEEK. THE YOUTH HAVE DISCOVERED FORE-EDGE PAINTING. THE YOUTH HAVE DISCOVERED FORE-EDGE PAINTING.
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We are a bookshop. We sell books. Primarily by women. Some even by men about women. Some by anonymous. Some by women who probably would have been men if they could have in the 19th century. Some by men who might have been women if they could have in the 18th.
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It isn't necessary for you to wrap your head around anything. What's necessary is to advocate for a world in which everyone can be themselves without fear, not just people with certain body parts. That this isn't clear to some is beyond us and alarming.
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@sslonewriter
We want to send you a graduation present. DM your favorite writers and address and shirt size if you want! You did amazing. Do only everything you want next is what we say. You are amazing.
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The rare book trade has been historically focused on a white male canon. We are not so much. We are interested in books by women and about women, all women, trans women, and non-binary writers.
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If you block transphobic people liberally their box and platform gets smaller and smaller until they are only talking to each other. Consider not platforming their hashtags even in defense.
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We sell books and don't have much expertise beyond that but it seems quite simple to us.
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For some reason we donate to trans charities every time we sell a first edition Harry Potter. We have a whole set of the American first editions, first printings. It's worth several thousand smackers. We can't wait to redirect that in her name.
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The so-called feminists complaining about cancel culture have been telling our store it isn't a 'safe space', even going so far as to ask for refunds, because we carry books by trans women and are open to all like a normal bookshop!
Who exactly is trying to cancel culture?
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Oh, btw, we are now in possession of Vanessa Bell's copy of The Voyage Out. Her sister Virginia Woolf's first novel. No big deal. It was found in a tomato box in France.
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@sslonewriter
And we have contact. Graduation present is a-go!!! Plotting very serious care package. 🙌
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Hi
@avonbooks
, We will be emailing a request to be paid for use of our former storefront’s image on the cover of this book without asking permission first. As we have successfully done with several other book covers. Cant believe this keeps happening.
What elements are needed to classify a
#romance
as a "romance"?
@LaurenBravo
explains why "romance” no longer means the protagonist has to end up in a relationship.
#essay
#intriguing
#article
#TheSecondChanceStore
#LaurenBravo
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For every book by
@MargaretAtwood
we sell in the future we will donate a portion to trans' rights.
OPINION | Trans rights? Yes. Toxic, in-your-face activism? No | CBC News
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She did this when we explained to her we sell rare books by women and trans women are women.
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Hi
@waterstoneshelp
, Could you please clarify your stance on transgender rights. Thanks!
We have received some messages about an employee who has been dismissed. This was on the grounds of contravening Waterstones policies and has nothing to do with transgender rights.
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We're going to donate to Mermaids Gender to always remember the day we were blocked for supporting all women! Join us! Match our £29 to
@Mermaids_Gender
in her name in support of human rights.
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The trans-exclusionary radical feminist (or TERF) position is the slur. We do not call people names in our shop. We do not support name calling. We are offended by the idea. We sell books by women! That is what we do.
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Attention men! You are absolutely welcome at
@secondshelfbks
. But save jokes about being a man in our store. "Oh, only books by women, I see. Can I even be in here?" EW. IT'S OLD JOKE FOR US ALREADY AND WE ARE ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD. GET A GRIP ON YOUR OWN DAMN SELF.
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We want to be clear about something. The Second Shelf is intersectional, inclusive, and expansive in our use of the term women as we embrace the multidefinitionality of gender identity and expression. We will not debate this.
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We had transexclusionary women in the shop today who were so excited to be in the shop until they saw all our trans rights decor, then they whispered with angry faces to themselves and literally slunk away so fast after having just praised our existence to face.
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Hello! The Message from Members of the UK and Irish Publishing Community is updated thanks to
@djdaisyjohnson
and
@Kiran_MH
's efforts. And we have posted the 1,521 name strong tour-de-force in support of trans and non-binary rights. It is tremendous.
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We do not relate to so-called feminists who reduce women to whether or not they have certain body parts for the purpose of reproduction! We sell books.
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Many people have asked us today what defines a woman. The woman herself does. But we are a bookshop and it is hardly our business how she does so. Our business is selling books by women (all women), first editions, rare books, and their rediscovered works.
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We sold a copy of Harry Potter yesterday! use an exclamation because it means we get to make a donation to
@Mermaids_Gender
! It was an affordable early-ish paperback, so we are going to donate the full amount of the sale.
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We’re ok. We just held Vita’s copy of Orlando. Totally fine. Perfectly ordinary day in the rare book trade. Misting up in the cab ride home. Thanks so much
@mrkimjones
. Weekend workday made.
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Sometimes the value in a rare book isn’t in how well it is preserved. Here is a copy of Austen’s Emma, given by Virginia Woolf to her niece Angelica Bell. It is in typical Bloomsbury condition. Loved to within an inch of its life. That’s the value.
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We've let Rowling's ignorant tweets sink in and now are going to put our focus on where it should be. Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. Trans Rights Are Human Rights. She doesn't deserve attention. This moment in time is not for her. She had her time. It's done now.
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Our first customer who is a person has booked today! And our first 🦊 customer disregarded our request to book an appointment.
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Now clear that the anti-trans in publishing spy network is going to try to force people to be silent about transphobia or cost them their jobs. We believe the literary community is capable of pushing back on this. It is dangerous to dictate beliefs and views of books or authors.
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We're just taking a little look at the top five hundred sales in rare books at auction in 2018 and a title by a woman doesn't crack the top twenty.
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Black Trans Lives Matter. In memory of Tony McDade, a black trans man shot by police, and in protest of violence against Iyanna Dior and black trans women, we have donated to to the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund. Join us today in supporting Black trans-led orgs!
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@hillarykwiatek
The second day we opened a man walked in and said he couldn't find any Genghis Khan and Donald Trump. This is sort of like that, and the men's rights people are strangely aligned with terfs and it is unpleasant and simply can't be safe for trans people.
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Until the transexclusionary campaign we had a 5.0 google rating for our shop. Over last coupes days people have started leaving 0.0 stars. They haven’t been to the shop. A nice thing to do is report those as being conflict of interest and the leave us a review if you have been!
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Indie bookshops are poised to take a massive hit if they have to shut, or because people aren't going out, so while they are open and everyone is, please shop your local indie a little extra. All of us will need it.
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Our new website is very close to finished and this message appears at the very bottom of every page, so people know no matter what where we are at with our feminism.
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There's a problem with
@jk_rowling
that EVEN during a pandemic she is focusing her energy on anti-trans rights sentiment. Seriously, she has all the money in the world, she has an incredible amount of power. Her views hurt young people. And she doesn't care. She's a bigot.
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Here's a fund that JK Rowling WON'T be supporting. Please donate.
Black Trans Lives Matter. In memory of Tony McDade, a black trans man shot by police, and in protest of violence against Iyanna Dior and black trans women, we have donated to to the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund. Join us today in supporting Black trans-led orgs!
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You know what's funny, we had dreamed she might want a library built reflecting all the work of fantasy for children by women so we could put her work in context of the historical contributions of women writers. She's gonna miss out.
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This will be an unpopular opinion, and lord we don't need any more enemies, but close Waterstones. Staff are scared. And are serving too many customers still. And are afraid for their health and safety. Close them and support the staff. Help them stay home and well.
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RIP Elizabeth Wurtzel. This is incredibly sad, but also, let it be mentioned that she survived clinical depression. She survived depression. And that, and her immeasurable impact on writing about mental health, is something to acknowledge. Fuck cancer.
Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose 1994 memoir “Prozac Nation” won praise for opening a dialogue about clinical depression, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 52.
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This may seem very to silly to share, as we are a closed bookshop. But when we reopen, we have a loo and it is for anyone who needs it.
FUCK THIS SHIT.
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it is not illegal to throw away a book you own. it is also not censorship. it isn't required you give it away to someone else, particularly if the book is rubbish and you don't want someone to suffer. you can recycle it to be earth friendly!
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Honestly we saw it coming somehow. Because we are a bookstore with FORESIGHT.
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Ahhhhhhh. We finally received the important mail. Lock down almost thwarted us.
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We saw something that we won't link to today and are responding thusly: Have you read Torrey Peters' Detransition, Baby yet? If not, order it from us here and we will donate £1 of sale until the announcement of the Woman's Prize to trans-led organizations!
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@secondbestsarah
Please do! We do not know what hurts about this acronym for trans exclusionary radical feminists, when it is a position, but we support women. We don't know what you mean by shared biology, but people are all unique and our owner had her uterus removed because it was diseased!
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On
#bookshopday
we rolled by to say goodbye to our first location. She was a wonderful shop. A little small. A little quirky. Full of excellence. We had the best customers. Do sign up for our newsletter to stay in touch for news of our 2022 moving plans.
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Most chillingly clever literary award object!
Best mail day! My Shirley Jackson Award finalist rock arrived today!
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That's funny. A few years ago she blocked us on twitter. We are a bookshop focused on ... looks down at notes. Rare books by women.
🖋️ "J K Rowling has heroically stood up for women. The Government must find the courage to reform the law" | Writes
@SuellaBraverman
Read the full comment below ⬇️
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If you are feeling down tomorrow, come see us. We will continue to be a positive space where change happens every day. And where we can dream and make opportunity and a difference in our daily actions. Happy to make you a cup of tea.
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If you haven’t wanted to engage in support of trans women because it is an ugly fight, please consider at least showing your vocal support now. This is terrifying.
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Happy Trans Pride! 🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️❣️
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We had a visit from
@HillaryKelly
and she profiled us for
@NYMag
's
@vulture
! In the piece we debut our cover for the second issue of The Second Shelf! Take a look!
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We are honoured to publish this letter from members of the UK and Irish publishing community. We didn't coordinate it but we joyfully participate and share.
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@EmmaWatson
Hi Emma, Thank you so much. She blocked us last week for saying so, a bookshop of books by women (all women), if you can imagine that.
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What's interesting to us about this is when we responded to her initial comment on the issue on twitter w/something along the lines of "trans rights are human rights", she blocked us very quickly ... a bookshop that sells books by women. We do wonder what we misunderstood!
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It's true.
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Indie bookshops are in trouble with the new lockdown. Please support them by ordering for holidays early. Please put gift certificates to bookshops in stockings. Go book crazy.
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Here’s Tove Jannson encouraging the adorable destruction of a first English edition dust jacket of Finn Family Moomintroll.
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Sigh. We've started getting negative reviews on Google even though we are closed due to a pandemic not because of the books by women we sell but because we don't participate in a debate about trans rights.
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Had the pleasure for the first time of telling a man that we didn't sell Ayn Rand today in the store because her work is evil! Making July 6th a store holiday forevermore!
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We made under thirty pounds yesterday, no pressure or anything. But we are the secretest bookstore in London and want you to duck into our courtyard off Brewer Street in SoHo and buy a first edition by a woman today. Saturday! Open 11-7. Noooo pressure.
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The Sun's cover story today is a monstrous choice that glorifies and endangers women. Domestic abuse is real and the effects on even one victim can hurt thousands, as this cover demonstrates. We must focus on male violence. Trans women did not cause this harm.
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Perhaps we should explain why we engage. We do it because it is important to be clear about what we are about. It is important right now for the trans community to see they are loved. We respond selectively and to a small percentage of the vitriol.
We block as we go!
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It doesn't make women safer. Trans rights are an essential component of women's rights and abortion rights. Bodily autonomy for all is at risk when you other trans women.
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We want to be clear, we are uninterested in the transexclusionary feminist position! We understand there is discomfort w/ the acronym TERF. But this seems to be because the negative connotations don’t sit well with the position holder? Maybe it’s evidence of a terrible stance?
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We want to recommend that you block trans-exclusionary tweeters. We now engage infrequently, and block as we go. Take away their platform and they can't have the conversation they desperately want to have, which is to invalidate people's rights.
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She is transphobic tho.
J.K. Rowling is releasing a new book chapter-by-chapter online for free
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It appears we've lost dozens of newsletter subscribers for our trans-rights support. That's fine! And we received an email telling us to read Simone de Beauvoir. LOL. Anyway, people can sign up for our newsletter here to balance out the negativity!
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No one can quite explain to us in a rational way given the majority of people in the UK and women do not want trans people to be vilified this way why it is the main "culture war" being pushed in all news media in the UK constantly. All are guilty of it. And it's deplorable.
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We are about to return money for our magazine from a customer who believes that trans women are not women. This is our pleasure.
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Just thinking about how signing Woody Allen meant losing a writer who has a very long life to write many groundbreaking bestselling books and what kind of conversation determined that that relationship was worth risking?
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Some v v serious treasures are emerging as we clean up the shop.
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The first entry on the list is Louise Bourgeois at number 35 with her "He Disappeared Into Complete Silence," Gemor Press, New York, 1947 a rare complete illustrated book of nine signed engravings. We salute her. It sold for half-a-million and some change.
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Just say you don't like trans people and move on. Honestly. Put your energy elsewhere. Go help cis women if they are the only people you care about. But stop trying to claim that it's ok to argue about people's entire existence as a freedom of speech and equate it with truth.
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Book repair porn of our sold signed first edition of Angela Carter’s The Sadeian Woman courtesy of
@BainbridgeCons
. Don’t tape your ripped jackets, folks.
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