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Weird and wonderful bookshops


Melodious

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There used to be an amazing second hand book shop in my town. It was a huge attic full of books and you could spend hours in there but it closed down about 10 years ago. All we have is a little Waterstones now :( My town isn't much of a reader town I think.

 

Thanks Athena I'll take a looksy on those shops.

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I love Barter Books in Alnwick (shown in the first link). It's the most beautiful place - totally magical. You can spend an entire day in there and feel like time has stood still the whole time as you get totally lost in the books. And there are lovely little rooms to one side which have fires burning in the hearths, where you can sit and read. It's the most delightful little place and I'm so glad I now love pretty close to it (I'm in Blyth - it's about a 40 minute drive at most, depending on traffic - we always seem to hit some, hence the 40 minutes - LOL!). I used to visit almost every time we came down to visit, but I haven't had a chance to go since we moved down a year ago. I suppose because I know it's right there... I really must go soon though!

 

I would LOVE to own a little book shop. If I ever win the lottery, that's exactly whatI'll do - and it shall be called Books of Kell.

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Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath should get a mention.  It's wonderful, and who could resist a Book Spa?!  :wub:

 

It is by far the most wonderful bookshop I've been to!  It's far enough away that it feels like a treat to go, but not too far away that I can't go regularly.  In addition to the spa's (which I've always wanted to have, but (not so subtle) hints, pleas and even bribery haven't got me one yet ;)), they also have fabulous author events - it's where I saw Ali Smith recently. :smile2:

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Wasn't sure where to put this but some of these look amazing.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/gallery/2014/oct/10/weird-and-wonderful-bookshops-worldwide-in-pictures

 

Anybody have anymore unusual/amazing bookshops to show?

 

That wood burner in Inverness, with all those books stacked around it. 

 

Accident waiting to happen. 

 

Jus' sayin'.

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I want to go to them all!

 

I was in Ross Old Book Shop on Monday and it was lovely, much bigger than it looks on the outside or even in those pictures, and there's a 'books under £3' section at the back which is just brilliant.. I seriously wanted to buy the whole case!

 

If I could add one I would say Bosco Books in Looe, which is in a converted chapel right by the harbour. They have the most amazing rare antique books. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of it when I went... Oh well I'll just have to go back for one... :D   

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:wub: I really want to visit the UK now to go book shopping :DPoppyshake, Octavia's Bookshop is on the list! :exc:

 

Gotta love the Honesty Bookshop, too :smile2:

:exc:That is exciting .. well done Octavia :) 

 

Such a lot of lovely bookshops .. I'm going to make a note and see if I can't plan my holidays around them :D 

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So did I on the strength of Nellie's review!  :D

 

Yep! :D As I was reading the whole thread when I found it, I saw your post about how you'd hinted heavily to your hubby that it would be an ideal pressie for you some day, and I almost posted about it in your thread, but fortunately I had the patience to read the rest of the thread to find out that you've already been to the book spa after that previous post of yours  :D

Edited by frankie
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That book spa sounds amazing!!!

 

I wish I had something like that in my area.

 

Has anybody in the UK looked at this?

 

http://www.thewilloughbybookclub.co.uk/

 

It's a subscription service where they send you a book every month based on your taste and reading habits. I quite like the mystery aspect of it.

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  • 1 year later...

The Book Barge now has a semi permanent berth on the canal behind Kings Cross station in London, I believe (they have a facebook page with their location on).

From the second link posted by Melodious - I've been to a few, so I hope the following helps a bit! The Ross old book shop in Ross on Wye I was lucky to visit in March - its a great shop with a wide range of old books. Some quite expensive of course but I found some bargains. Baggins Book Bazaar in Rochester is a lovely old shop with lots of rambling passageways - quite easy to get lost in there (and spend quite a long time looking at books obviously) :) The Honesty bookshop next to Hay Castle in Hay on Wye is a lovely idea - but when we called in there was nothing of any interest and everything looked a bit damp and curled (its open to the elements, somewhat)! But it is very cheap and close to the other bookshops in Hay, so worth a look. Wild and Homeless Books in Bridport looks nice but is a total mess - 2 floors of books that weren't sorted in any order at all when I was there in May. Really disorganised. If you have the time to look at piles on the floor, on shelves, in boxes to try and find something you're interested in, then you'll be fine - its the only secondhand shop I've hated.

If I may recommend my favourite - Astley Book Farm in Bedworth, Warwickshire. Converted farm buildings, 70000 books, a fantastic cafe, leather sofas and chairs dotted around and a wood burner in the winter (ultra cosy). I probably go about once a month and never come back empty handed (or well fed).

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We go to Bridport quite regularly, but I'm not really much of a fan of second hand book shops, but the times I've been into Wild and Homeless Books, it's not been too bad.  There is a sort of order, and if you chat to the owner, he'll talk you through it.  The books were certainly alphabetically ordered in the fiction section when I looked, but I was looking for a certain author and didn't venture upstairs, so I can't say what it was like up there!  I don't particularly like second hand books, so it's only if I'm trying to find something out of print I go in them, so it may have changed since I last looked - I think it was September last year.  There is another second hand book shop, almost directly opposite on the other side of the road, which is much more organised, but I've only ever bought some Beano annuals in there! :D

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Yes, the one on the other side of the road was pretty good! I wasn't exaggerating but maybe I caught W & H at a bad time - I've never been in a shop like it. The lad behind the counter was just sat reading a book - no-one else in there and I was in there about 10 minutes before I gave up. Talking of Beano annuals, the Sanctuary bookshop in Lyme Regis had a very large and very cheap selection of children's annuals when I was there in May. I resisted but I do have a few. :)

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