Interview: Round Table Books

It’s just been announced that Round Table Books have made it to the final round of The Book Seller’s best independent book shop of the year, and having been round to see it in the flesh, we aren’t surprised in the least. The community hub of a shop deserves its every success- it oozes friendly, fun and responsibility when it comes to education.

That being said, we spoke to Jasmina (Round Table employee), to hear about Round Table Books. She also gave us some fantastic book recommendations below too… Here’s what she said.

“Welcome to round table books. We’re based in Granville Arcade, Brixton village. We sell books and are passionate about books that touch on multiple themes and are written by authors from specific protected characteristics. So that’s race, sexual orientation or gender orientation, and neurodiversity. So all of our authors will cover some of the characteristics and sometimes even all three because intersectionality is really important. After all that jargon, all the books we have for you are amazing. Come in here and we’ll talk to you about our books. We’ll figure out a book that works for you, something maybe you’ve never read before if you’re looking to explore. For today, we’ve got three books and a mini book to talk about.”

A Spell of Good Things – Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

Author of Stay With Me, which was nominated shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. Very, very good. Set in Lagos, talks about inequality, talks about power, but also just love, which I always love, if you’re looking for something literary that will suck you in then I highly, highly recommend this book. 

The Queens Of Sarmiento Park – Camila Sosa Villada

I can talk about queer literature all day. But I picked one specifically that I don’t think you’ll find anywhere else in London. Translated from Spanish, but don’t worry! It’s very readable. Set in Argentina, in a park with trans sex workers, it’s about all their shenanigans and what they get up to. Still very literary, still very readable and the author themselves is a former sex worker, they are trans and a brilliant writer. 

Maame – Jessica George

And then if you’re looking for something based in our beautiful city of London, or in South London specifically, Maame just came out and I absolutely love this book. I devoured it in 24 hours. Young, British Ghanaianm she’s a carer who talks about the perils of being a young person in London. And also, of course, for me a bit of romance in this one. Highly recommend. 

We’re Going to Find the Monster – Malorie Blackman, Dapo Adeola

Finally, for those of you who might have kids or have someone in your life who has a kid… or just enjoys reading something different. Not issue based at all, but just a really fun story about kids getting up to shenanigans in the garden. 

So, come in! Maybe these books don’t speak to you come and talk to us, and we’ll find something that works super well for you better than any algorithm. We hope to see you here at some time.