Issue 2 of Backstory, the magazine by an independent bookshop for readers who love good books and great bookshops. Backstory is the antidote to weighty literary journals for serious readers. With 68 pages of original features by the biggest and most exciting emerging authors, Backstory is a colourful, zippy and occasionally provocative celebration of books and bookshops. It appeals to a broader and younger readership that better represents a typical book buyer. Issue 2 features journalism by Hollie McNish, Julia Armfield, Sophie Mackintosh, Yael van der Wouden, Michael Donkor, Tim Shipman and Ed Caesar. We go stargazing with Martin MacInnes, author of In Ascension, and profile the Penguin lawyer standing up to book bans in America. We ask how to write good sex and -- snobs beware! -- stand up for Instagram poetry.