The Hive Network

I was at BBC Radio Merseyside reviewing this morning's papers earlier today (a lot earlier today!) and amongst all the stories about Liam Fox and the Euro Millions winners, I found a hidden gem: The Hive Network. I don't know if any of you have heard about this yet and I am just way behind the online times but it's brilliant. The idea is that you order your books online and collect them from your local independent bookshop. This may mean more sales for publishers and bookstore owners as people come through the doors but above all that, it means that local bookshops become a place for people to connect with other people, not just a faceless website. Hopefully, this will help reverse the trend of the last few years that has seen indies closing down at a rapid rate (a quarter of them since 2006) and reinstate the local bookshop as a community hub. Now then, what to buy first...?