Paramount Books

Creative Tourist
Paramount Books book shop in Manchester
Per Gosche via Flickr

Located on Shudehill on the fringe of the Northern Quarter, you’re likely to hear Paramount Books before you see it, as opera and jazz boom from speakers positioned above the door. A wondrous atmosphere awaits with books to satisfy practically any interest. A large part of the shop is stacked with crates of Action Comics, Picture Posts and vintage girly magazines with seemingly innocuous yet strangely ominous-sounding titles like Beautiful Britons and Health & Efficiency. For those excited by books, it is certainly the best shop in Manchester set in an architectural gem which has remained pleasantly unaltered for decades.

25-27 ShudehillManchesterM4 2AF View map
Telephone: 0161 834 9509 Visit Now

Opening Hours

  • Friday10:00am - 6:00pm
  • Saturday10:00am - 6:00pm
  • Sunday10:00am - 6:00pm

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

What's on near Paramount Books

Aisla dancing and Dj'ing
ActivityAncoats
Become A Superstar DJ

Get hands on with the decks in this funk and soul superstar DJ workshop from BBC Radio 6’s Ailsa.

free entry
Until
ComedyManchester
The Comedy Vault

Every Monday night upstairs at Fierce Bar, The Comedy Vault hosts an outrageously funny open-mic night. Come and try your hand or just to watch and laugh.

free entry

Where to go near Paramount Books

City Centre
Bar or Pub
The Washhouse

A cleverly-designed bar for those in the know, disguised as a laundrette but containing some top-class beers and cocktails.

Kōdo Entrance
City Centre
Restaurant
Kōdo

Kōdo, a secret bar like no other. It is all about discovery. The only way to enter is with a special code, which changes weekly.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
This & That Café

Eternally popular curry canteen taking its name from a time when patrons didn’t know what to call their orders, but pointed instead to a bit of “this” and “that”.

Ego Death
Manchester
Restaurant
Ego Death

Ego Death is a speakeasy-style secret bar in the Northern Quarter with a cocktail menu as good as its atmosphere.

Manchester
Restaurant
eden Manchester

eden is a brand-new botanical inspired all-day dining, drinking and entertainment destination based in The Printworks.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Bar 21

A bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter for fans of television and cinema science fiction. Enjoy food and drink amongst a off-beat selection of movie memorabilia.

Manchester Pubs
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Trof Northern Quarter

It’s a landmark year for Trof NQ. In the years since it first opened, the Northern Quarter has developed around it to become one of the city’s most prominent areas.

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.