Lasting Relevance of Independent Bookstores

In a time when almost everything can be bought with a single click, one may wonder why independent bookstores still matter. After all, online platforms offer convenience, speed, and endless choices. Yet, stepping into an independent bookstore offers something that cannot be packaged and delivered. It offers discovery.

Unlike large retailers that mostly focus on bestselling and commercially popular titles, independent bookstores often carry books that are difficult to find elsewhere— rare editions, niche genres, academic works, regional literature, and books by lesser-known authors. These stores make space for stories and ideas that might otherwise remain unnoticed. They allow readers to explore beyond what is trending.

What makes independent bookstores even more special is the experience they create. Buying a book from a bookstore is rarely just a transaction. There is something deeply personal about walking through shelves, picking up books, reading back covers, and stumbling upon a title you were not looking for but somehow needed.

Independent bookstores also offer something that algorithms cannot replicate: human connection. A bookseller (shelf-mates) can understand not just what a reader buys, but what they are seeking.

These bookstores also become an important part of a city’s cultural identity. Places like The English Book Depot in Dehradun are more than retail spaces; they become landmarks of memory. Generations of readers walk through the same doors, carrying different stories but sharing the same love for books.

Independent bookstores matter because they preserve something valuable in today’s fast-moving world: slow reading, reflection, and meaningful connection. They remind us that books are not simply products to consume, but experiences that shape how we think, feel, and understand the world. And no doubt bookstores do more than sell books; they keep reading humans.

-Sneha

Books of the Week - Saturday, 27th June, 2026

Everyday Creativity:

Making Genius Accessible: Making Genius Accessible | From the Bestselling Author of Design Your Thinking and Design Your Career | Books on Innovation and Problem-Solving by Pavan Soni 

About the Book 

Are you creative? Is creativity the preserve of a select few―or is it something we all possess? And is creativity the same as intelligence? Everyday Creativity explores these questions and more, drawing inspiration and insight from remarkable creators across art, science, politics, sports and even the military. From Amir Khusro to A.R. Rahman, and Leonardo da Vinci to Haruki Murakami, the book distils timeless practices that can help you unlock your own creative potential. Complementing these stories are over twenty-five proven methods of creative problem-solving―designed to move you beyond common sense and towards a more structured, powerful approach to thinking creatively.

About the Author

Pavan Soni is an innovation evangelist by profession and a teacher by passion. He is the founder of Inflexion Point, offering programmes on design, innovation and leadership. He has conducted over 600 workshops with 175 organizations in ten countries. Apart from being an adjunct faculty at ISB Hyderabad and IIM Bangalore, Pavan is a columnist at Mint, YourStory, Inc42, Entrepreneur and People Matters. His monthly newsletter, Inflexion Point, reaches over 20,000 enthusiasts across the world. Pavan was the only Indian to be shortlisted for the prestigious 'FT & McKinsey Bracken Bower Award for the Best Business Book of the Year 2016'. He has been invited five times to speak at the TEDx, and is featured as one of the '100 Digital Influencers of 2020' by YourStory. Pavan is a gold medalist from MBM Engineering College Jodhpur, and did his PGDIE from IIM Mumbai. He finished his doctoral studies from IIM Bangalore in the domain of innovation management. He is passionate about fitness, spirituality, guitar, chess, reading and writing.

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK

 Giorgia’s Vision by Giorgia Meloni

ABOUT THE BOOK

What does it mean to defend identity in an age of globalization? Can nations preserve their culture while navigating the pressures of modern politics and economic change? In Giorgia’s Vision, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offers a deeply personal and political reflection on these defining questions of our time.

Structured as a series of candid conversations with journalist Alessandro Sallusti, the book moves beyond conventional political memoir into a broader conversation on leadership, national identity, meritocracy, family, faith, and the future of Western civilization. Speaking from the office of the Italian Prime Minister at Palazzo Chigi, Meloni reflects on her journey from a working-class neighbourhood in Rome to becoming Italy’s first female Prime Minister, while also laying out the ideological foundations that shape her politics.

Across chapters that broach autobiography, political philosophy, and cultural commentary, Meloni discusses Europe’s identity crisis, the tensions between nationalism and globalism, migration, the role of institutions, economic sovereignty, and the erosion of traditional social structures.

The book also offers a rare insight into the emotional and personal dimensions of political power, including the loneliness of leadership, the burden of public expectations, and the sacrifices demanded by public life. Through reflections on figures ranging from Joan of Arc to Margaret Thatcher, Meloni positions her politics within a larger conservative tradition shaped by resilience and cultural continuity.

Deeply introspective, Giorgia’s Vision is a manifesto on the meaning of identity in the twenty-first century. It is a book that speaks to the anxieties and aspirations shaping Europe and the wider West today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Giorgia Meloni was born in Rome in 1977. Politically active since her teenage years, she became a professional journalist at twenty-nine and was elected to Parliament for the first time. She holds the record as the youngest minister in the history of the Italian Republic: in 2008, at thirty-one, she became the Minister of Youth. On December 21, 2012, she founded Fratelli d’Italia, of which she is the national president. Since 2020, she has been the president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR Party), one of the leading political groups in Europe. On October 22, 2022, she was sworn in by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, as Prime Minister. She is the first woman in Italy’s history to hold this position

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