About Us

Hello and thank you for visiting our website.

We're Max Minerva's, a family owned company with two book shops - in Henleaze, a suburb in the north of Bristol, and in Portishead.

We opened our first store on the site of the former Durdham Downs Books at 39 North View, Westbury Park, Bristol in September 2018. In September 2022 we moved from this site to a new store, three times the size, just round the corner at 47 Henleaze Road. A week later we opened our second store at 28-30 High Street, Portishead, on the former site of the longstanding and much loved Morgan Wesley stationers. It's fair to see it was a busy few weeks!

Our focus is on our local communities. Each shop is slightly different, with the stock reflecting the tastes of their respective customers but you'll find the same wide range of categories in both - fiction, crime, poetry, arts, inclusivity, non-fiction, history, society, nature, travel, biography, sport, science, YA, teen, children's chapter books, picture books and board books- alongside toys, games and puzzles.

If you're looking for the ultimate present for a bibliophile, our monthly book subscriptions are tailored to your individual tastes. 

We work with 30 schools across Bristol, organising author events, book fairs, reading lists, and delivering £5000 of free books each year thanks to the generosity of Crimefest. Our events calendar continues to grow, with monthly book clubs and author events in Henleaze, Portishead and across Bristol. Most recently, we've begun putting on regular author events at St Paul's Learning Centre, in Bristol city centre.

Please pop in, say hi and have a browse. If you'd like recommendations we're always happy to help and if you want to tell us about your favourite book we're always happy to listen!

We hope to see you soon,

Sam, Joe, Olivia, and the Max Minerva's team