New chapter for bookworms opens at first swap book event By Mike Ritchie A NEW chapter for bookworms has opened at a first-time, sold-out book swap event in Glasgow, which will be repeated in other parts of Scotland to meet demand for what can fairly be described as a novel idea. Sales of fiction rose dramatically in the UK last year – they went up 16 per cent for fiction, non-fiction by four per cent – with £2.1 billion spent on new books when lockdown re-kindled people’s love of reading. Publishers have been praised for a steady supply of excellent reading material, despite many bookstores being forced to stay shut during the pandemic.