Welcome
Books Paper Scissors is an independent bookshop in leafy South Belfast, near to the Botanic Gardens, Queen’s University and the Ulster Museum.
We stock a curated selection of the latest fiction and non-fiction, plus classics, Irish literature and poetry. We also have a great children's room, with choices from newborn to teenager. If you don't see the book you want in store or on-line, please just ask via e-mail or telephone, we can source most books in just a few days.
Beyond books we stock stationery, notebooks, diaries and greetings cards. Plus gift wrap, gift bags and of course, scissors. We also stock a small selection of non book gifts.
* * CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - ** 12/06/20
We have re-opened our doors, operating daily 11 - 4pm until further notice.
Deliveries can still be requested throughout Belfast, or postal service as required.
New
A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende
£16.99
'Allende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity' New York Times'
September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles' splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life - and the fate of his country - forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile.
When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised 'long petal of sea and wine and snow'. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
A Race with Love and Death, by Richard Williams (hardback, March 2020)
£20.00
The son of wealthy parents, educated at Rugby and Cambridge, Seaman grew up in a privileged world of house parties, jazz and fast cars. But motor racing was no mere hobby: it became such an obsession that he dropped out of university to pursue his ambitions, squeezing money out of his parents to buy better cars. When he was offered a contract with the world-beating, state-sponsored Mercedes team in 1937, he signed up despite the growing political tensions between Britain and Germany.A year later, he celebrated victory in the German Grand Prix with the beautiful 18-year-old daughter of the founder of BMW. Their wedding that summer would force a split with his family, a costly rift that had not been closed six months later when he crashed in the rain while leading at Spa, dying with his divided loyalties seemingly unresolved. He was just 26 years old.
A Race with Love and Death is a gripping tale of speed, romance and tragedy. Set in an era of rising tensions, where the urge to live each moment to the full never seemed more important, it is a richly evocative story that grips from first to last.
A Thousand Moons, by Sebastian Barry ( hardback)
£18.99
The follow up to Barry’s stunning Costa winner Days Without End.
This follows the story of Winona, the Indian orphan from the first story.
Sebastian Barry writes superbly and each character is sensitively imagined, one of my favourite Irish writers.
American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins ( hardback, Jan 2020)
£14.99
Vivid and utterly compelling, AMERICAN DIRT is the first novel to explore the experience of attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border. Described as 'impossible to put down' (Saturday Review) and 'essential reading' (Tracy Chevalier), it is a story that will leave you utterly changed. Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist. Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world. Today, her eight-year-old son Luca is all she has left.
For him, she will carry a machete strapped to her leg. For him, she will leap onto the roof of a high speed train. For him, she will find the strength to keep running.
Big Girl Small Town, by Michelle Gallen ( hardback, Feb 2020)
£14.99
Already shortlisted for a Women Comedy writing award, this has been described as Derry Girls meets Milkman. The unique blend of comedy and tragedy, with Michelle Gallen's 'Majella', is outrageous and honest.
Burned, by Sam McBride ( paperback, Oct 2019)
£16.99
The investigative journalist Sam McBride takes an analytical and thorough look at the RHI scandal that engulfed Stormont. Well written.
02.11.2019 Please note this book is in high demand and is currently reprinting - please check before ordering that we have it in stock. *currently stock due 11 Nov* We will gladly add you to the wait list.
Exciting Times, Naoise Dolan ( hardback, published April 2020)
£14.99
Likely to fill the Sally-Rooney-shaped hole in many readers' lives' IRISH TIMES
'Droll, shrewd and unafraid - a winning debut' Hilary Mantel
When you leave Ireland aged 22 to spend your parents' money, it's called a gap year. When Ava leaves Ireland aged 22 to make her own money, she's not sure what to call it, but it involves: - a badly-paid job in Hong Kong, teaching English grammar to rich children; - Julian, who likes to spend money on Ava and lets her move into his guest room; - Edith, who Ava meets while Julian is out of town and actually listens to her when she talks; - money, love, cynicism, unspoken feelings and unlikely connections.
This is an acutely self conscious and clever tale.
Gemma O’Neill cards, £2.95 each
£2.95
We have just persuaded local illustrator Gemma O' Neill to produce a range of cards for Books Paper Scissors. Her delicate watercolours take in sights of Belfast and the Causeway Coast as well as beautiful wildlife images.
Cards are £2.95 each and can be posted within UK for around £1.06. Min order for postage 3 cards.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
£8.99
***WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019****SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020*
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . .
.A choral love song to black womanhood in modern Great Britain' Elle 'Ambitious, flowing and all-encompassing, an offbeat narrative that'll leave your mind in an invigorated whirl... [It] unites poetry, social history, women's voices and beyond.'
Recently featured in our BooksPaperScissors bookclub, see BLOG for review.
LAMY Notebook softcover A5 and Safari pens
£15.90
Perfect matching sets ...
LAMY Safari green rollerball £13.95, ballpoint £10.95 and Fountain Pen £19.95
Notebook £15.90
Subject to current availability, please email for more information.
LAMY Safari Candy Fountain Pens, limited edition colours
£23.95
Choose from Mango, Violet or Aquamarine
medium nib
LAMY Safari Rollerball : Candy limited editions
£14.95
Smooth rollerball pens, in 3 new limited edition colours - Mango, Violet and Aquamarine.
Refills available
My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell (hardback, March 2020)
£12.99
An instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller
An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher
Vanessa Wye was fifteen years old when she first had sex with her English teacher. She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student. Vanessa is horrified by this news, because she is quite certain that the relationship she had with Strane wasn't abuse.
Now she must deal with the possibility that she might be a victim, and just one of many. Nuanced, uncomfortable, bold and powerful, My Dark Vanessa goes straight to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.
Our House is on Fire
£16.99
The profoundly moving story of how love, courage and determination brought Greta Thunberg's family back from the brink'Urgent, lucid, courageous ... a must-read message of hope ... It is a glimpse of a saner world' David Mitchell, GuardianThis is the story of a happy family whose life suddenly fell apart, never to be the same again.Of two devoted parents plunged into a waking nightmare as their eleven-year-old daughter Greta stopped speaking and eating, and her younger sister struggled to cope. They desperately searched for answers, and began to see how their children's suffering reached far beyond medical diagnoses. This crisis was not theirs alone: they were burned-out people on a burned-out planet.
And so they decided to act. Our House is on Fire shows how, amid forces that tried to silence them, one family found ways to strengthen, heal, and gain courage from the love they had for each other - and for the living world. It is a parable of hope and determination in an emergency that affects us all.
Rory Best - My Autobiography
£20.00
Rory has communicated his feelings of warmth for sport, for team morale and most of all his own appreciation for his achievements.
A great read for anyone interested in Irish and Ulster rugby.
The Gatekeeper by Kate Fall, hardback ( March 2020)
£16.99
Kate Fall was one of David Cameron’s closest advisors for 11 years. A very personal portrait of life behind the scenes.
Book Club
The BPS Book Club meets in the last week of every month. We have two sessions, each one covering the same book so just pick the session that suits you. There is no need to book, just show up. It's a relaxed and unintimidating sharing of views and opinions.
Please contact us if you have any questions about the book club.
BOOKS as GIFTS
Perhaps you have a relative or friend who loves reading but you have no idea what to choose? We can make recommendations based on a few hints! We offer a gift service where the book(s) are chosen, gift wrapped and dispatched by BooksPaperScissors with a gift message from the recipient.
For children or adults.
Our Book Store
15 Stranmillis Rd, Belfast BT9 5AF
Phone: 028 9066 7815
Monday - Saturday- 09:30 - 17:00 *
'Post-Covid 19*
daily, 11am - 4pm, until further notice
