Books and Bakes: new café and bookshop opens in Washington
Written by Libby Seath on 16th December 2025
A new café and bookshop, Books and Bakes, has opened in The Galleries in Washington, joining a small but growing number of bookshops in Tyne & Wear that also feature an in-house café.
The shop sells a range of genres, including crime thriller, general fiction, translated fiction, romance and fantasy. Alongside this, the café offers a menu of hot drinks and sweet treats.
Owner Charlotte King, 33, said the idea came from wanting to create a welcoming space for people who enjoy reading but may not feel comfortable sitting in a traditional café.
She said: “I feel very self-conscious going into a dedicated café or coffee shop to read, as people often see them as places to socialise. I wanted to open somewhere that offers a bit of both.
“While there are cafés that sell books, I wanted to create a space that really encourages people to read while enjoying their drinks.”
Books and Bakes: drinks menu
A map with a rough idea of the book shops that have a cafe/coffee shop in them, in the Tyne & Wear area, can be seen here:
Poppy Dawson, 18, a member of the Sunderland Book Club Society, welcomed the new opening. She said: “I’m pleased there’s another bookshop in the area where I can choose to read quietly or socialise if I want to. It’s really exciting to have more options.”
Future plans for Books and Bakes include selling crocheted book pouches and hiring a barista when the business grows.
Charlotte opened the shop after leaving her previous job to pursue her ambition of working with books and becoming her own boss. She said she wanted to fill what she saw as a gap in the local market for relaxed, reader-friendly spaces that combine books and coffee.
More information can be found on the Books and Bakes Instagram page.
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