Founded and run by Paul and Inge Sweetman, the shop is 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.