Foyles

I have never been in Foyles before so was excited to explore it. Sadly it is only a small store, yet it is a delight to wander around and Ian Rankin said hello to me.
Let me explain I was not at an authors event, he was not (as far as I know!) visiting Birmingham. there was a screen in the shop featuring his latest books and a video voxpop of him next to it. Never seen this at a bookstore before, it made me chuckle as I jumped when a voice came from no-​where!
The kids books section is bright and circular, lots to amuse the little people. There is also an adult colouring books section for the big weans among us, together with a huge range of cookery and travel books and a good selection of fiction. The stationery section is only small, but has some very pleasing colourful notebooks.
I wish the shop was bigger, but what is there is good.

When I was a kid Grand Central Birmingham was just called Birmingham Shopping Centre and the space where Foyles is was a smallish ASDA!
This is a small bookshop and in other towns or cities it would probably have a much more local feel to it. In Birmingham it feels like a city store where you would go grab a book for a long train journey.
I used to work in a bookshop so I’m pretty judgement about what to expect. I liked the lighting, the range of books and the subjects.
There are two audio pods where you stand and watch the laptop size tv screen and hear about a particular book.
The children’s section looks excellent and is only let down by the flickering lights in the ceiling.
Best for buying gifts for other people or treating yourself!