The storied life of Church Street

In an age where we address ourselves as Digital Natives living vicariously through our smartphones, spending most of our leisure time scrolling through our social media feed, we can notice how our habit of picking up a book and feeling excited and curious as we turn the pages has either increasingly reduced or has vanished into oblivion. However, we do spot an active group of bookworms who have not given up on this habit even with a ton of technology created to distract us (must appreciate the strong willpower!)

Along those lines, as Church Street is popularly dubbed as an arena, often enthralled with a coup of young blood, flocking to cafes and pubs serving delectable dishes or exhibiting their unique art forms all over the commercial hub, in the midst of all of this one can’t help to not miss out some bookstores along the way. Thus, catering to everyone’s likes and interests (quite literally) there’s something in store for these fellow bookworms as well.

Blossom Book House for instance is known to be synonymous with Church Street, such that it has become one of the popular landmarks, one can’t fail to visit. Established almost 19 years ago, with two major stores in the same street, this is the first go-to place for any bibliophile would recommend to you if you’re on the hunt to grab the latest books.

Unlike your regular quintessential bookstores, stepping into Blossoms is more or less like stepping into a labyrinth of books, ranging from pre-loved to the latest bestselling novels and a plethora of genres - be it fiction or non-fiction, romance, thrillers and many more!

Mayi Gowda, the owner shares in all his years of running Blossom’s, he encounters readers from different walks of life.

“Varying from one-year-old babies to 100 years olds, you get to see all kinds of readers at my store,” Gowda explains.

Picture Credit: Ishwarya Lakshmi

Before Blossom’s became Mr Gowda’s magnum opus, he moved to Bangalore from Mysore to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Engineering. Unfortunately due to unprecedented struggles and financial constraints, he decided to sell books to fund his education. Thus, he started off his venture in MG Road, joining other booksellers who set up their stalls on the pavements. In no time, his business started to boom which ultimately led him to earn the name of being one of the most booksellers in the city.

“Our readers need books, despite the availability of e-books, they all prefer buying a hard copy at the end of the day,”

said Karunakaran who is currently running the old franchise of Blossom’s, when asked about his readers. He also shares that for every new book you buy you get a twenty per cent discount and for old books, you’ll get discounts up to sixty per cent. Blossom’s also gives you an option to return back the books after reading them as well.

Similarly, another bookstore that you should keep an eye out for is Book Home. Established by Chandar S, this store also has books that are both pre-owned and new that come in a spectrum of genres like Art, Film, & Photography, Sports, Comics & Mangas, Travel and Tourism and much more.

“We usually have authors who come sign their copies after their book releases,”

said Poonkuzhali, the daughter of the owner, sharing how readers can get their hands on autographed copies of their favourite Indian authors. Besides that, Book Home also provide services like xerox, printouts and even browsing the internet.

Picture Credit: Ishwarya Lakshmi

If you’re a bibliophile who’s into collecting pre-owned, books then Book Hive is your destination.

“Our customers often get surprised seeing the new bestselling releases in second-hand versions,”

said Keshav, who runs the store. Established in 2018 and is much lesser-known compared to the other bookstores in the area, this store is worth visiting as they give you an option of exchanging your books at a 50% discount. The store specifically chooses to take selective genres as exchanges such as literature, philosophy, history, classics etc.

If you’re someone who likes to pick up books on the go, rather than lazying around in bookstores, The Roadside Shop is worth checking out. Run by Saved, this bookseller has a wide variety of exciting genres and most of the books are starting from an economical cost of two hundred rupees!

Picture Credit: Ishwarya Lakshmi

So tag along with your Bibliophile besties on a bookstore hopping trip to Church Street and enjoy a fun-filled day of smelling old books or escaping to a fictional universe, forgetting reality or simply rekindling the joy of reading a book!