Photograph: Skateistan

It is easy to forget how fortunate we are and how the freedoms and rights we take for granted remain elusive to so many.

Yesterday, as images of desperate men jumping onto moving planes and devastated women buying burqas flooded our screens and sent a chill down our spines, the tragedy of Afghanistan revealed not only the utter despair of a people who had dreamt of so much more, it also put into stark relief our own good fortune of living in a democracy where we need not fear for the lives of our sons and daughters.

But our good fortune is only one side of the coin; the other is our obligation.

The political scramble to justify the chaos of the present with the mistakes of the past is all too quickly leading to the conclusion that 20 years in the service of creating a more democratic nation have been in vain.

Tell that to the women who were able to walk the streets on their own; to open their own businesses and speak their own minds. Tell that to an entire generation of girls and young women who were once again allowed to go to school. And tell that to the fathers, husbands and brothers who could proudly watch them do it all.

The response to the failure of Afghanistan cannot be to turn our backs on future challenges. It must be to accept and learn from our mistakes in order to do better. We must resist the urge to find all resistance futile, as that is how we allow despots the triumph they crave.

The people of Afghanistan trusted us, believed in us and in many cases helped us, and as we watch the doors close and darkness descend we cannot forget that being on this side of the door demands action.

We may not be able to help everyone, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It is our duty, our obligation, to show gratitude for the fact that we are where we are, in the safety of our homes, by helping the Afghans who put their lives on the line to help us do our job, and who are now staring into the abyss.

We owe them that.

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As we return to our events schedule, stay tuned for an evening on the topic of the state of the world 20 years after 9/11, including a look at the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and their effects on US foreign policy. Date TBA.

The literary reckoning with the war in Afghanistan has also begun. A few interesting books making their way to our shelves in the next few days are 'The Afghanistan Papers : A Secret History of the War' by Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock and
'The American War in Afghanistan' by Carter Malkasian.

We look forward to seeing you at the shop!
Isabella and the staff of Books & Company

We were back on Monocle Radio on Sunday chatting with Tyler Brülé about summer books and magazines - and reminiscing about that wonderful evening a few weeks back where we had the pleasure of hosting Tyler and his team for the launch of the gorgeous Monocle Book of Homes.

Check out the episode here: Monocle on Sunday The conversation begins at 28:47.

We all know that wherever we end up spending our summer holiday we will need a good stack of books to keep us company.

So it is (finally) time to start filling your beach bag, suitcase, bike basket OR your favorite Books & Company tote with books to enjoy in the lazy hazy summer ahead.

As a fun holiday option we are offering to put together book packages - for children and adults - and we are happy to curate a selection according to genres, interests, age etc., and since we all need a bit of summer fun we will throw in a surprise book with each package ordered.

So feel free to get in touch and we will get the book ball rolling.

We look forward to hearing from you!

An exciting first for us at Books & Company was an interview this past Sunday May 9 with editor-in-chief of Monocle Magazine, Tyler Brûlé.

We had a nice chat on life in a bookshop as well as book and magazine recommendations.

Check it out here: Monocle on Sunday The conversation begins at 27:46 .

Dear friends,

In just a few hours Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States of America, bringing to an end what has arguably felt like the longest four-year term in history.

With a to-do list unprecedented in size and scope, it will be a challenge for the incoming administration to not stumble as they hit the ground sprinting.

The past four years with a divisive, deceitful, and uniquely self-serving president, have emphasized the greatest challenges facing President-elect Biden; the glaring inequality and disenfranchisement that has resulted in social and racial unrest, a Covid-19 death toll of over 400.000 and the millions of Americans who believe the election was fraudulent.

Four years ago we watched in disbelief as Donald J Trump took an oath he had no intention of upholding. We watched as the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ entered the stage and slowly but surely started dismantling all that had been built. And for a while there it looked like the houses were made of sticks and of straw.

So he huffed and he puffed, and he (almost) blew the house down. 

Now the wolf is gone and the house, while still standing, is in dire need of repair. Except this time it will have to be with bricks, and the mortar must come from a more inclusive, more equal society; a less polarized nation where the shrill voices of power-hungry politicians and fringe movements are drowned out by a majority voice for the common good. 

America, and indeed the world, will be watching as the man who has himself come back time and time again from the brink of personal tragedy and political failure, seizes this immense opportunity, matched only in magnitude by the challenge, to bring back the country not to its former glory but forward to a more glorious future. 

As we carefully open up the shops, I can’t help but think about the interesting experiences and important lessons we as small businesses have accumulated over the past year.

At the top of our list - right after the support of customers - comes the support (emotional and tangible) of other small business owners. Sharing ideas, likes and social media posts as well as driving business to each other has made us all feel less lonely and more important as real contributors to an increasingly unreal world.

Check out our instagram for some of the cool and amazing businesses that have kept us smiling throughout.

Looks like takeaway is here to stay, so we are back to delivery / pick up with a twist.

Get in touch to order/ ask for suggestions, and we will get your books ready for you. But we need more fun than that!

So instead of extra soy sauce, we suggest adding a surprise book for just 25,- Consider it your fortune cookie.

Thank you to Jonas Smith for the awesome illustration :-)

The Financial Times recently wrote of the pandemic and the year 2020 that it had been “an individualized experience”, that “we do not seem to have come together, at least in the West”.

While it is true that each of us sees the world through our own particular shade of pink through gray, and that loneliness, anxiety and loss have defined the lives of many this past year, I would argue that we have also seen an unprecedented outpouring of support and community; that we have in fact come together.

The lockdowns and regulations - characterized mainly by their unpredictability - catapulted independent bookshops like ours into uncharted territory. The old adage, ‘calm on the surface, and underneath paddle like hell’, is the one that perhaps most aptly describes our state of mind for the past 10 months. 

This was not where we planned to be this year and certainly not what we planned to be doing. 

In a classic sink or swim moment, we decided to change things up. We turned the business on its head and started delivering books by bike, car and on foot. You couldn’t come to us, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t come to you. 

It was hard work, but also by far the most rewarding experience of our almost twelve year existence. We have always been keenly aware of the community we are privileged to be a part of, but 2020 was, as they say, a ‘next level' experience. 

We received requests from near and (very) far on all imaginable platforms, and for each and every order, every gesture of support we are eternally grateful. It isn’t over yet, but now, at least, we can say with confidence that we are not alone. 

So, yes, the pandemic has certainly been a lonely, isolating and individualized experience, but it has also shone a light on the many communities that have come together in support of what they hold near and dear because as we know, it is often only when we stand to lose something that we realize its true value. 

I would also like to express my enormous gratitude to Hannah, Amy, Emma and Gustav (our Corona bike messenger). These are the amazing, wonderful people I get to spend my days with and without whom none of what is described above would be possible.

What we at Books & Company experienced in 2020 was more than support, it was kindness. Every word, every note of thanks, every smile and every thumbs up was an act of kindness that sustained us through it all. Crisis reveals not only strengths and weaknesses, it also reveals to ourselves what truly matters, and what truly matters is kindness.

So let us embark on what will surely be a better, brighter 2021 with these words written by Ian Frazier in The New Yorker Magazine: 

‘Kindness is a folding chair we carry with us everywhere’.

With gratitude and the best of wishes for a Happy New Year!

Isabella and the staff of Books & Company