About Us

Arranged over two floors, City Books has a large range of carefully selected books, including an extensive selection of books of local interest.

Founded and run by Paul and Inge Sweetman, the shop is on Western Road, in the Brunswick area of Brighton and Hove, bang in the centre of  the city. Regency architecture dominates this part of Britain’s City by the Sea.

In a competition held in Brighton and Hove, City Books was voted by locals ‘The Best Shop in Brunswick’. The shop has also been shortlisted twice for the national ‘Independent Bookshop of the Year Award’ and won the Muddy Stiletto award for Best Bookshop in Sussex in 2018.

City Books organise regular literary evenings. Guest speakers have included Jo Brand, Ranulph Fiennes, Laura Bates, Elizabeth Day, Vic Reeves, Nick Cave, Will Self, Sarah Dunant, Iain M Banks, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Grayson Perry, Yotam Ottolenghi, Mary Beard, Peter James, Jamie Oliver, Tony Benn, Caitlin Moran and many many more.

If you would like to hear about future events, sign up to our mailing list in the form at the bottom of our home page.