Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

House of Books & Friends

Sadie Pearson

Visit now

House of Books & Friends

81 King Street, Manchester, M2 4AH
07597 365380
Website Facebook X
Visit now
House of Books & Friends
Book now

“A bookshop with purpose” and playing a powerful role in the community, House of Books & Friends is also a café and a place to meet and chat with likeminded individuals. There’s also an atmospheric wood-panelled events space at the back, where regular readings and creative activities take place – you can sign up to their newsletter to keep up to date with all the goings-on and check out our Literature Guide for previews.

With all the latest titles for sale, there are also specialist sections, including a good amount of shelf space dedicated to books and authors from or related to Manchester, a UNESCO City of Literature.

Born during the pandemic, as reports began to show how 45 per cent of people in the UK experienced loneliness, the House of Books & Friends made it their mission to help reduce this issue. In their own words, they’re “tackling loneliness, one book at a time”.

Featured in

UNITOM bookshop
Bookshops in Manchester

Manchester is a UNESCO City of Literature, so of course there are a few go-tos for books. Read our guide to discover the best places to pick them up.

What's on near House of Books & Friends

Elizabeth Gaskell's House
TourManchester
The Manchester Literary Tour

On the eve of Elizabeth Gaskell’s birthday, join Jonathan Schofield Tours for a stroll around the sites (and sights) of Manchester’s literary past.

From £20.00
See all events

Where to go near House of Books & Friends

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Habas Bar & Restaurant

Habas is a modern Middle Eastern-influenced restaurant in the very centre of Manchester and the latest venture from El Gato Negro’s Simon Shaw.

Stables Tavern
City Centre
Restaurant
Stables Tavern

The Stables Tavern is an olde style pub in the St John’s neighbourhood of Manchester, where the Rovers Return once stood.

City Centre
Restaurant
Jamie’s Italian Manchester

Jamie’s Italian is located in Edwin Lutyens’ soaringly elegant Midland Bank, one of the city’s treasures. The menu’s full of crowd-pleasing choices, with a huge selection of pastas, mains and bruschettas, and an appealing kids menu.The drinks range is broad and deep, with wine, beer and cocktails for all tastes and budgets.

Manchester
Restaurant
Lucky Cat

Gordon Ramsey brings his fine-dining Asian-style restaurant Lucky Cat to Manchester in April 2023.

Deansgate
Restaurant
Burger & Lobster Manchester

Burger & Lobster is a King Street restaurant in the old Ship Canal offices. With an enormous bar and food that’s high on quality but low on choice, it’s a popular choice with Manchester’s young and stylish.

Home-X
Manchester
Restaurant
Home-X

Home-X is the online spin-off of renowned Scottish-Italian chef Nico Simeone’s Six By Nico restaurant. This is geared around kit meals to cook at home.

Manchester
Mash Tun

Mash Tun is a craft beer and live music venue at the former Grafene site on Manchester’s King Street.

See all places

Manchester District Guides

The front of Didsbury restaurant Volta.
Didsbury, Manchester

Didsbury has the perfect split between big brands and independent businesses, welcoming all from far and wide.
Ancoats, Manchester
Ancoats & New Islington

Ancoats, just off the Northern Quarter in Manchester, is one of the city’s most increasingly desirable neighbourhoods. Find out why.
People enjoying drinking in Altrincham
Things to Do in Altrincham

Plan a day out down Altrincham way, and you’ll soon find that one day isn’t nearly enough. Getting there is easy on the tram, or how about cycling along the…
Salford museum and art gallery exterior
Salford, Greater Manchester

Cross over the River Irwell, and you’ll find yourself in another city entirely – Salford, which is enjoying something of a regeneration.
chinatown, manchester in sun by ben williams
Chinatown, Manchester

Chinatown is a network of back streets dotted with Chinese restaurants – go to Ho’s Bakery for perfect honey buns, Hunan for spice and Middle Kingdom for a very affordable menu.
The Quays, Greater Manchester

The Quays is home to MediaCityUK (the largest media hub in Europe) and studios purpose-built for the BBC’s move up North in 2011.
Chorlton, Manchester

Chorlton is a left-leaning suburb a few miles south of Manchester’s city centre (and only 10-odd minutes away by tram). A sprawling hive of artisan coffee shops, boutique clothing stores,…

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Sprints
Music in the North

10 fresh shows across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, threading together noise, ritual, euphoria and release in all their messy, beautiful forms.

Detail of an abstract sculpture, with burned materials and rusty chicken wire at the centre, with rusted metal bars bent around it.
Exhibitions in the North

Chocolate fountains, beautiful batiks and medieval marginalia - this month's supersized Exhibitions Guide has it all.