Perhaps better known for its music, green spaces and industrial heritage, you might not know that Sheffield is a treat for book lovers too. The so-called Steel City is home to the annual Off the Shelf literary festival and International Booker Prize-winning publisher And Other Stories, and you’ll also find a vibrant community of indie bookshops among the city’s seven hills. Our Managing Editor, Hannah Boursnell, lives in Sheffield and shares her favourites below.

Novel

Tucked away in one of Sheffield’s (many) hilly suburbs, Novel (@novelsheffield) has grown from a plucky pop-up, appearing at markets around the city, to a much-loved literary institution in the space of just a few years. Owned by Kate and Joe, the stylish shop stocks a curated range of ‘inspiring, innovative and thought-provoking books’, as well as serving up seriously good coffee and cinnamon buns. They host a range of events in store – including book clubs, yoga classes and knit nights – and still pop up at some of the city’s many makers markets from time to time. 

Juno

Juno Books (@junobookssheff) is a small shop with a big heart. With a mission to sell ‘books for every body’, this intersectional feminist and queer bookshop is guided by a manifesto which promises to ‘centre marginalised voices and provide a space which raises up words and experiences not always heard by the mainstream’. In their colourful and cosy city-centre shop, owners Rosie and Sarah host numerous book clubs and author events, and – perhaps most importantly – provide a safe and inclusive space for anyone who simply needs to see a friendly face.

La Biblioteka

On the Victorian cobbles of Leah’s Yard in Sheffield city centre, in a building that was once a cutlery workshop, you’ll find La Biblioteka (@labiblioteka), an airy, light-filled independent bookshop. Packed with beautiful magazines, coffee-table books and a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction, all curated by owner Alex, it’s the perfect place to pick up something new to read before stopping for a glass of wine at Barks next door.

Rhyme and Reason

A local’s favourite since 1999, Rhyme and Reason (@rhymereasonbooks) is located in Hunter’s Bar – a leafy neighbourhood made famous by the Arctic Monkeys. Originally a children’s bookshop, and still filled to the brim with a diverse selection of books for young people, it now also stocks a fantastic selection of fiction and non-fiction for adults. On the shop’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 2024, owner Richard Welsh reflected on the pleasure of seeing his original young customers now returning as adults with their own children.

Hillsborough Bookshop

Another shop that specialises in children’s and YA books, Hillsborough Bookshop (@hillsboroughbookshop) lives up to its mission to ‘get the whole family reading’ with an ever-growing selection of fiction and non-fiction for adults in its upstairs space, all thoughtfully selected by owner Sophie. With a regular storytime, a book club and a busy schedule of events, Hillsborough Bookshop is proof that you can find something good to read in all corners of the Steel City.

In 2026, the shops highlighted above, together with the Graphic Novel Reading Room, Next Chapter Books and secondhand booksellers Porter Bookshop and Kelham Island Books and Music, will celebrate the city’s independent spirit with the first Sheffield Indie Books Festival, 25–26 April, which promises to ‘celebrate stories, and the books and publishers who keep them alive’.