Booking Through Thursday

Published on by Margaret

Do you buy books while on vacation/holiday?

Do you have favorite bookstores that you only get to visit while away on a trip?

What/Where are they?

I always buy books on holiday. It’s one of the things I look forward to – finding a local bookshop and any secondhand bookshops to browse in and pick up a book about the area. One of the disadvantages of the bookshop chains is that they’re very much the same wherever you go, so if possible I look for an independent bookshop. I always buy a map of the area as well.

I don’t have any particular favourite bookshops to visit whilst I’m away as we like to find new places to visit. I’ve recently discovered that you can find details of bookshops and libraries on Library Thing. The next place we’re visiting is Taunton in Somerset and I see on LT that there is an independent bookshop there – Brendon Books and Maps. The shop is a Sub-Agent for the Ordnance Survey and carries a full range of the Explorer and Landranger maps as well as a large selection of local books. It looks as though it’s the place to shop and it has a coffee bar.

I did find a fascinating secondhand bookshop last year in Painswick – The Little Fleece Bookshop, which I wrote about here. If we’re back in that area any time I’ll certainly visit it again.

9 thoughts on “Booking Through Thursday”

  2. I always buy a few books on vacation. Like you, I try to find small bookshops and love it when I can find a really nice used bookstore. Last year, I came home with bags of books! I usually try to find a book about the area and its history and if the book also concerns women’s history in the area, that is a plus. I’m don’t buy many trinkets or such on vacation, so I don’t mind spending on a few nice books. Oh, and I usually buy a Christmas ornament that is representative of the area. My Christmas tree has things from all over.

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  4. I can’t agree with you more. I always look for bookstores with titles of local interests. In Malaysia, I found W. Somerset Maugham’s travelogue of his journey from Burma to Singapore, called The Gentlemen in the Parlour, a book that I haven’t had any luck in the US. These bookstores are also great resources for local history. That said, I buy books when I travel, lots of them. I usually run out of books to read so I have to re-stock. I brought back 15 books from Hong Kong in the recent trip!

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  5. The Little Fleece Bookshop sounds absolutely perfect! I do think the small, independent book sellers are really the most fun. But they’re getting harder and harder to find in the US these days. Now that I know about LT’s “local” feature, I intend to use it to try to find some interesting new bookstores when I’m out and about.

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  6. I lived in Taunton 15 years ago and can recommend this book shop. I remember buying dozens of Virago books there. I think you`ll find that Bath Place has a lovely selection of independent specialist shops (that`s if things haven`t changed too much since I was last there!). Enjoy!

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  8. I agree that those small independent book stores have so much more to offer than the book store chain stores. Thank you for the tip about library thing. I will check it out. I have left a little something on my blog for you. Take care, Carol

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