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Independent bookshops are lamenting a lack of distinctive Christmas titles as the charts show few top sellers that the sector can claim as its own. Matthew Clarke of the Torbay Bookshop in Paignton, said: "In previous Christmases we've had a surprise bestseller, a quirky book which the independents have discovered early on and which has sold like hot cakes and which we've made money on, like Our Island Story or The Dangerous Book for Boys. But I can't think of one this year."
Nigel Jones of neighbouring Devon independent Totnes Bookshop said: "I can't see many good books—did nobody bother commissioning last year? Apart from the usual perennials and celeb stuff there isn't much for us independents to get our teeth into. The White Tiger looks strong, but I'm struggling to put together a good table that doesn't look like W H Smith's".
Peter Donaldson of Red Lion Books in Colchester said that the high number of titles being heavily discounted by chains was making a greater proportion "out of bounds" to independents. Donaldson said: "I've got used to relinquishing Jamie and Delia, but for such a vast number of books to be so heavily discounted is unhealthy for the trade." He added: "For the books on our front table, we're getting behind books with local and regional flavour. Every publisher in the land has produced quirky bestsellers in enormous numbers so there's less likely to be a runaway hit."
However, Joanne Young at Broadhurst Bookshop in Southport said quirky titles were still selling well: "We're doing well with all sorts of little £9.99 hardbacks. Strong sellers are Sonnets, Bonnets and Bennetts by James Walton (Faber), Books That Changed the World by Andrew Taylor (Quercus), Blighty by Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur (Sphere) and Tim Birkhead's The Wisdom of Birds (Bloomsbury)."
Saber Khan of Topping & Company in Bath cited Notes from Walnut Tree Farm by Roger Deakin (Hamish Hamilton) and The Wisdom of Donkeys by Andy Merrifield (Short Books) as strong contenders.