Essentials for today’s bridge book readers and collectors
My friend Peter Cooper was a bridge book collector and had amassed a library of hundreds of bridge books by the time he passed in 2023. As he and his wife Julie had recently moved, the books were stacked in boxes in a back room for months while Julie wondered what she would do with the collection. Being a bridge player herself, however, and an avid reader, the answer was destined. Julie hired a contractor who built bookshelves that covered an entire wall of her livingroom, and today Peter’s bridge library fills the shelves.
If you’re new to the game of bridge, it’s likely you’ve only collected a few bridge books, and perhaps a small stack of magazines – but as your love for the game grows, and your skills start to evolve, you will also build a small bridge book library over the years. To help with that, here are some resources.
Where can I buy bridge books?
The book table
One of the highlights of attending a bridge regional, or longer, tournament for me was always the Book Table. I was excited to see what new books had come out, and excited to be able to hold some of the more famous publications. If you enjoy wandering through libraries and book stores, you’ll love the book table! Look for it at your next bridge tournament. As a bridge author myself, I was absolutely thrilled to eventually see my own books on that bridge table.
Online Book Sellers
New
There are many great online book shops. We can list a few here and check out our Bridge Publications page for updates.
Karen’s Bridge Library (USA) – Karen’s library is a must visit. The books are sorted according to bridge level, or by author, but the ‘bridge classics’ page is not to be missed! Karen has done the curating, the books themselves are purchased from Amazon.
Baron Barclay Bridge (USA) – the grandfather of bridge books (and supplies) shops in North America, Baron Barclay’s book sections are helpfully sorted into many categories.
Bridge World Book Store (USA)
Vince Oddy Bridge Supplies (Canada)
Master Point Press (Canada) – shop and publisher
Bridge Winners Book Store (USA) – shop and publisher
London Bridge Centre (UK)
Jannersten Forlag (Sweden)
Bridge en Boekenshop (Netherlands)
The Bridge Shop (Australia)
Used
Used books are often more affordable and of course, the purchase of used books also contributes to environmental sustainability by reusing resources and reducing waste. As well, used books can possess historical or sentimental value, holding annotations or signs of previous ownership that enrich the reading experience. I love exploring Peter’s collection which contains many of the classics as well as out-of-print titles. And I’m lucky that Julie invites me to borrow a book whenever I wish.
For those of you without a Peter and Julie in your lives, here are some sources of Used Books.
The Bridge World’s Used & Out of Print shop
Vince Oddy (Canada) has a Bargain Basement.
Thrift Books is a great resource, just type ‘bridge’ or ‘bridge game’ into the search bar.
What books should I buy?
Talk to any bridge expert, and they’ll be happy to share with you the bridge books and authors that made a difference in their journey to becoming a good player. An article titled “The Best Bridge Writer” on Bridgewinners.com asked the community who they thought was the best writer and there were over 300 replies.
Book Reviews
Baron Barclay has a book blog where you can read reviews of new books.
I found a Book & Bridge Material Review forum on Bridge Base Forums, that looks great but the last review was quite a few years ago. Still, it’s worthwhile to give it a visit, who knows, maybe you can post a review and get the forums sparked up again!
The American Bridge Teachers’ Association has a ‘book of the year’ award, and reading their annual results is a good way to get to know recently published books. Here’s the 2023 results.
The International Bridge Press Association has a Book of the Year award. You can find an archive here.
And most of the bridge magazines currently on the market have book reviews. See below for a list of magazines.
Great writers
As mentioned above, there are many opinions about the best bridge writers. Of course, the older writers will be more prominent as they have published so many great books! But there are also new writers coming onto the scene ever year. The Book of the Year awards often feature newer writers so be sure to keep tabs. But here are some of my personal favs
The Classic Authors – Anything by any of these writers will change your bridge path for the better.
Michael S Lawrence
Eddie Kantar
Ron Klinger
Alan Truscott
Dorothy Truscott
Larry Cohen
Hugh Kelsey
Marshall Miles
Marty Bergen
Terence Reese
Audrey Grant
Kit Wolsey
New kids on the block – I can say this because although I’ve been involved in bridge since the 1970s and have recently returned to the table after a decades long hiatus. Excellent authors that have emerged over the past while are:
David Bird
Barbara Seagram
Tim Bourke
Marc Smith
Eric Rodwell
Mark Horton
Paul Thurston
Danny Roth
Julian Pottage
Frank Stewart
John Carruthers
Adam Parrish
Of course there are many many more excellent bridge book authors – this is by no means an exhaustive list. I hope by visiting some of the links and resources above you will find your own favourite writer!
But I prefer Magazines
OK, some of us don’t have the time (or the eyesight) to sit with a bridge book. A magazine is typically bigger and brighter, and instruction comes in smaller bites. There are some good bridge magazines out there in 2024, most requiring subscription or membership. Here is a short list of bridge magazines that you can hold in your hand. You can find more resources for bridge magazines, as well as links to bridge author pages, on our Books and Publications page.
The Bridge World
Also one of the oldest bridge publications, TBW was established in 1929 by Ely Culbertson and continues to be one of the authoritative magazines on the game. Find their store here, order back issues or subscribe. The Bridge World Editorial Staff: Jeff Rubens, Phillip Alder, Kit Woolsey, Michael Becker, David Berkowitz, Augie Boehm, Bart Bramley, Larry Cohen, Mark Feldman, Fred Gitelman, Eddie Kantar, Danny Kleinman, Ron Klinger, Eric Kokish, Beverly Kraft and Bobby Wolff.
IMP Bridge Magazine
IMP Bridge Magazine is aimed at Dutch bridge players, so we should note that the entire magazine is in Dutch.
Australian Bridge Magazine
http://www.australianbridge.com/
Australian Bridge Magazine, published monthly, represents bridge players in Australia, though readers elsewhere will still get a lot out of their tournament coverage and columns.
Better Bridge Magazine
http://www.betterbridge.com/Better-Bridge-Magazine-Annual-Subscription
Better Bridge Magazine is a bi-monthly fronted by seasoned bridge player and teacher Audrey Grant.
The Bridge Bulletin
http://www.acbl.org/join/the-bridge-bulletin/
The Bridge Bulletin is filled with useful tips, info and up-to-date news, though it’s only available to ACBL members.
English Bridge
http://www.ebu.co.uk/englishbridge
English Bridge is the official publication of the EBU, and also only available to EBU members. You can still view a list of past issues on the same page – only the newer issues seem restricted to members – so it’s still worth checking out even if you’re not a current member.
Bridge Canada
Bridge Canada is published 3 times a year and available to members of the Canadian Bridge Federation only.
The last page
Unlike the last page of a good novel, the last page of a bridge book is not a time for mourning the end of the story, but merely invitation to go back to the first page, or that page that you’ve dogeared, or the pages where you have inserted markers. If you’re like me, your learning style will have you making zillions of notes as you read along. For some great bridge motif pens and paper, be sure to visit Gifts & Supplies for Card Players!
I hope you’ve found something useful in this article and if you have an opinion about a bridge book, know a good source for Bridge Book Reviews, or feel I’ve missed an important author, please leave your thoughts in the comments below.