100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

New on the blog! 🇯🇵 Japanese Healing Fiction & ☕ The Perfect Winter Reads

Receipts From the Bookshop

A Bookseller's Year
Brief Description
Many of us dream of owning a bookshop, but for Katie Clapham, it happened by accident when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum. Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

A year in the life of an independent bookseller at a small family bookshop in a fading seaside town, for fans of Nina Stibbe

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Many of us dream of owning a bookshop, but for Katie Clapham, it happened by accident when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum.

Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the day's comings and goings—mostly people who were actually hoping to catch her mother. The triumphs here are small but hard-won: a tea crisis averted, a book title correctly identified from a cryptic clutch of clues. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of being named the 7th Best Bookshop in the Country by The Times in a week where daily takings came to around 16.98.

Customers appear for a browse and a chat, in search of a recommendation or the perfect gift. Others enter the shop for more unexpected reasons—to borrow a screwdriver, locate a priest, or simply to ask if there's 'a nice place for an omelette around here'. Each day brings its own joys and frustrations, though not always in equal measure...

Funny, surprising, and affectionate, Receipts From the Bookshop offers a bookseller’s year in all its weirdness and wonder—a life-affirming celebration of bad weather, good books, and the irreplaceable role of a local bookshop.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781399629546

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Katie Clapham is the co-founder, with her mother, of independent bookshop Storytellers, Inc. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2011 and Young Bookseller of the Year in 2012, and Storytellers, Inc. has been nominated for Bookseller industry awards seven times. Katie is also the author of several books for children and young adults. She lives in Lytham St. Annes with her family.

Also by Katie Clapham

View all
  • The Missing Bookshop
    A range of simple stories for new readers, with beautiful colour illustrations. Milly loves going to story time at her local bookshop. Mrs Minty is an encyclopedia of books and knows the perfect story for every occasion ... tales of mischievous children and faraway lands, magical beasts and daring adventures. But the bookshop is old and creaky, just like Mrs...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Receipts From the Bookshop
    Pre-order
    Receipts From the Bookshop
    Many of us dream of owning a bookshop but for Katie Clapham it happened by accident, when she moved back to the seaside town she grew up in and went into business with her mum. Once a week, Katie sits behind the counter and chronicles the day's comings and goings—mostly people who were actually hoping to catch her mother. The...
    Hardback
    $6000
    Pre-order
    Out 15 Sep 2026
  • Indie in Disguise: Stylist-ing and Other Jobs
    Meet Indie, a girl who loves imaginary play, in these full colour illustrated stories – perfect for encouraging independent reading for children aged 5-7.Hilarious, playful and perfectly true to both imaginary play and family life, this is the first title in a sparky chapter books series for newly independent readers.Indie is a little girl with a big personality – and...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Biography & Memoir

View all
  • New Release
    Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
    From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed Copy
    New Release
    Stakes
    Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoir Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampire’s badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Famesick
    Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgun wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through her journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Built for This
    Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Even the Good Girls Will Cry
    Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    An Ocean and a Day
    An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Place to Stand
    A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clare’s thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...
    Hardback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships early August
  • New Release
    Rule of Lies
    Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel … An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyer’s brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Rory
    The New York Times bestseller The #1 Irish Times bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4199
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
    Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera – author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider – decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te Wānanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo Māori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    This Is Me: A Reckoning
    This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Beyond Life and Death
    From martial arts icon and global film star Jet Li comes a revelatory, profound and inspiring guide to self-mastery and spiritual wisdom, distilled into 10 essential life lessons. Martial arts legend and international movie star Jet Li distils 10 powerful insights from his iconic career, his personal life and philosophies, and his 30-year Buddhist practice. Jet Li's story defies legend....
    By Jet Li
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.