My uncle and auntie live very close to Kentish Town. Not only are they lucky enough to have Hampstead Heath almost on their doorstep, but they also have a lovely local bookshop. It’s great having an independent bookshop nearby, especially this one.
The Owl Bookshop is wonderfully orderly, with well thought out displays and very clear sections – it’s an easy shop to navigate for readers in search of a particular subject. Continue reading
It’s hard to believe that this time last week I was in Nepal. Before we arrived in Kathmandu, where we would spend the beginning and end of our holiday, I dutifully researched bookshops. It seemed like if you were going to visit one bookshop in Kathmandu, it should be Pilgrims Book House.
After hearing all about Pilgrims, I was so excited to visit it. It’s been called an ‘Aladdin’s cave’ with a ‘maze of rooms filled from floor to ceiling with books’. Now who wouldn’t want to get lost in that? I also read that there was a nice café, where I was planning to enjoy breakfast before disappearing between the shelves. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the address written in the Lonely Planet travel guide, this is what I found…
On a recent visit to Cambridge, I spotted this ‘heavenly’ bookshop. In between punting on the Cam and a cake and tea stop, my friends and I couldn’t help but take a quick look – I mean, who could resist this window display? It’s colourful, varied and has some cute cuddly toys for good measure. It was the icing on the cake to make the weekend perfect.
My very favourite place in the world is Italy. And some of my favourite things in the world are books and good food. So when I get a chance to mix all of that up, I’m a very content person! That’s why, when I went to Florence a few weeks ago, I was pleased to have found this fab blog about, as the name suggests, a girl living in Florence. I’ve been following Georgette’s blog for quite a while now and remember being particularly excited about this post, which is all about library and bookshop cafés in Florence. Unfortunately I only got to visit one of the places recommended. It just means that I’ll have to go back sometime to visit the rest!
It was a loooong time ago now that I went to Amsterdam, but I’ve still got one last bookshop to quickly tell you about…
After feeling the peace and relaxation of Au Bout du Monde and the cosiness of Antiquariaat POLK on the Singel Canal, it was time to check out the third bookshop. Antiquariaat Brinkman is on the corner. At the time of my visit it was surrounded by scaffolding so I found it hard to take a proper outside photo.
This is the second bookshop I visited in St. Ives. It’s not exactly a big town, and with the St. Ives Bookseller just around the corner, you might think there’s no need for another bookshop. But I say that you can never have too many bookshops!
(Sorry for the terrible picture!) Continue reading
When I first walked past this bookshop, I was immediately attracted by the lovely, bright and colourful window display. Through the miserable “summer” weather, the display was so sunny and cheerful, I could almost imagine myself away and on a hot beach. The display had a distinctly beachy and local theme going on, with the exception of Fifty Shades of Grey, of course, which I can’t seem to escape at the moment. One window was dedicated to a children’s book called Cornish Tales which looked very good. It’s a shame I went home before the book signing!
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I’ve already spoken about the amazing Singel Canal in Amsterdam that has THREE bookshops in a row. The first one my boyfriend and I visited had wooden floors, high ceilings and a peaceful, airy atmosphere. The second bookshop we came to was quite the opposite. But no windows and cold, artificial lighting can’t put me off, especially when there are brightly coloured bargain boxes outside to lure me in!
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A couple of months ago, my boyfriend and I went to Amsterdam for a five day holiday to get away from work stress and flat-searching problems. Amsterdam certainly did the trick to take our minds off worries back in England. For me, it was mostly because, without realising, we had stumbled upon bookshop heaven!
In the middle of the week we took a walk along the Singel canal and to my pleasure found THREE bookshops in a row. I could not believe my luck! We walked up the stairs to the first bookshop to find a very calming atmosphere – the perfect shop to put all our worries behind!
The Jordaan is a very pleasant area of Amsterdam. It’s the place to go if you want to take a bit of a time-out from the bustle of the centre and escape the tourist crowds. Before arriving in Amsterdam, I had heard of a wonderful bookshop in the area called Island Bookstore. On my first day, armed with a map and camera, I embarked on a quest to find it!
Bundle of Books 