about us

______

We sift through contemporary releases to find the most inspiring, innovative, and thought-provoking books out there, and at the centre of the curation is a diverse list of authors, themes, and publishers.

Hey, we're Kate + Joe, we set up Novel back in June 2022 selling books at markets and events across Sheffield and have since found our permanent home at 221 School Rd, Crookes, S10 1GN.

Back in the summer of 2022, a few months after Kate had dipped out of teaching on the back of a Crohn’s diagnosis, we decided there was no time like the present to take our bookselling dream for a test drive, so took the plunge and bought £300 of stock with the last of our savings. Back then, we'd release monthly lineups of books that we'd read and enjoyed. 

Later that year, we were offered a little 2m x 1.8m nook at the back of Queen of the Suburbs coffee shop in Crookes, which was our home until the cafe’s closure in November 2023. It was a truly lovely chapter in Novel's journey, we met a load of wonderful regulars and had a blast working with the dreamy baristas at Queens. Our little business grew into something that was viable.

We have always been on the lookout for our own premises and have viewed 20+, but we were unable to find somewhere that hit the sweet spot of being both affordable and the right location/space.

That was, until 221 School Rd threw up a ‘to let’ sign a couple of weeks before Queen of the Suburbs closed its doors.

Located just 7 doors down from our previous sublet, we knew it would be the perfect home for Novel! 

We hope you follow us on this journey, and we can't wait to see you at our upcoming events ✨ 

Follow us on social media (@novelsheffield) to find out what we're up to!