The Griper's Times

THERE is a wonderful quote from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird about having the courage to fight your corner even when you know "you're licked to begin with." "You rarely win," Atticus Finch tells his children. "But sometimes you do." I was delighted to hear the news this afternoon that one of these against these odds successes had been chalked up locally, with a second-hand bookshop raising the funds it needs to stave off closure. The chances of volunteers making up the five-figure sum in six weeks seemed remote - a "daydream" as they described it today. One would not have blamed the team for simply accepting the charity's decision to shut up shop. No one would have blamed pensioners or young mums or fellow traders along the high street for failing to invest too many hours or pennies in what appeared a lost cause. Yet the donations came in dribs and drabs. Iced biscuits were sold in a local cafe. Schoolkids gave in the name of Wo...

BOOKS Revisited feels like just the sort of place that a cosy BBC children's drama might get started. I can easily imagine our teenage hero taking shelter on a stormy afternoon and, while browsing the shelves of ageing novels and weighty old tomes, finding something unexpected... I even have in mind a book worthy of their attention. How about a coal-black hardback, embossed with gold script. And on the cover the staring horned head of something far from human. If I'm being pretty specific it's because I found that very title on a dreary day a few years ago in the often-visited, always rewarding "ghosts and witchcraft" section.  The very fact that there's a room on the second floor where this alcove exists might explain why there's a special place in my heart for this second-hand shop.  And why I'm so sad there's a chance that, come the end of the month, the doors could close for good. That is unless the team of volunteers can scrape together the £3...