Judge a book by its cover version

The Bookshop Band are Britain's only literary band. “We've just written a song inspired by Damian Barr's Maggie & Me,” says Ben Please. The Avon trio are fresh from a UK tour of independent bookshops and last month played Glastonbury. Authors who've had their books immortalised in song love it: “Rachel Joyce brought her family to see us when we played at a shop near her home,” says Please.

It all started in 2010 when Nic Bottomley asked Please to play a few literary-themed songs at his bookshop in Bath. He was joined by guitarist Poppy Pitt and cellist Beth Porter, and the band was born. “We read Paula McLain's The Paris Wife and decided to write a couple of songs.” Would they ever switch songwriting for book writing? “We'll stick to music and lyrics for the moment. Perhaps one day – it's difficult not to get inspired, reading all these books.”

The Bookshop Band play Edinburgh Book Festival on 20 August (thebookshopband.co.uk)