Therefore, the ensuing list is less bucket than not-yet-ready-to-croak-crock. Think of it as a disorderly, though non-kicked, cubbyhole of literary fancies; an ongoing book bender, if you will, cataloguing an assortment of festivals, functions, retail outlets, libraries and other attractions on my immediate bookdar (in alphabetical order, of course, as certain standards must be maintained).
Before moving on, I should like to apologise to bucket buffs, of whom I know there are many, since this post isn’t intended to be derogatory in any way to your obvious love of creating lifetime achievement lists – we all have our predilections (me more than most) – and I fully admit to scrutinizing your aspirational checklists with unseemly relish.
So, there now follows a wish (but not bucket) list, as I have no intention of kicking anything when (if ever) there is an unbroken line of ticks on this page. In fact, I fully expect it to continue growing as I discover the existence of tempting book spots around the UK and other parts of Europe. This is an accomplishable list of places I would like to visit.
Anne Frank House
Prinsengracht 263-267, Amsterdam 1016 GV
Website: www.annefrank.org
Visited:
Astley Book Farm
Astley Lane, Bedworth, Warwickshire CV12 0NE
Website: www.astleybookfarm.com
Visited:
Bodleian Library
Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG
Website: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Visited:
Brontë Parsonage Museum
Church Street, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD22 8DR
Website: www.bronte.org.uk
Visited:
Charles Dickens Museum
48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX
Website: dickensmuseum.com
Visited:
Charleston
Firle, Lewes East Sussex BN8 6LL
Website: www.charleston.org.uk
Visited:
Cheltenham Literature Festival
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Website: www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature
Visited:
City Books
23 Western Rd, Hove BN3 1AF
Website: www.city-books.co.uk
Visited:
Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum
Grasmere, Cumbria LA22 9SH
Website: wordsworth.org.uk
Visited:
Dr Johnson’s House
17 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE
Website: www.drjohnsonshouse.org
Visited:
Dublin Writers’ Museum ✓
18 Parnell Square, Dublin
Website: www.visitdublin.com/see-do/details/dublin-writers-museum
Visited: July 2019
Dylan Thomas House
5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea SA2 0RA
Website: www.dylanthomasbirthplace.com
Visited:
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland
Website: www.edbookfest.co.uk
Visited:
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House
84 Plymouth Grove, Manchester M13 9LW
Website: elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk
Visited:
Falmouth Booksellers
21 Church Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3EG
Website: falmouth-bookseller.co.uk
Visited:
Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature
The du Maurier Festival Society, Fowey, Cornwall
Website: www.foweyfestival.com
Visited:
Gay’s the Word ✓
66 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB
Website: gaystheword.co.uk
Visited: Several times since 1982
Gladstone’s Library
Church Lane, Hawarden, Flintshire CH5 3DF
Website: www.gladstoneslibrary.org
Visited:
Hay-on-Wye: Wales’ Book Town ✓
Hay-on-Wye, Brecknockshire
Website: www.hay-on-wye.co.uk
Visited: 1985 & 2018
Hay Festival Wales ✓
Hay-on-Wye, Brecknockshire
Website: www.hayfestival.com
Visited: 2018
Hatchard’s Piccadilly
187 Piccadilly, LondonW1J 9LE
Website: www.hatchards.co.uk
Visited:
Heywood Hill Bookshop
10 Curzon Street, London W1J 5HH
Website: www.heywoodhill.com
Visited:
International Agatha Christie Festival
Torre Abbey, The King’s Drive, Torquay TQ2 5JE
Website: www.iacf-uk.org
Visited:
International Literature Festival Berlin
Berlin, Germany
Website: www.literaturfestival.com
Visited:
The Keats-Shelley Memorial House ✓
Piazza di Spagna 26, Rome, Italy
Website: www.keats-shelley-house.org
Visited: Summer 2000
London Book Fair
Olympia London, Hammersmith Rd, Kensington, London W14 8UX
Website: www.londonbookfair.co.uk
Visited:
The London Review Book Shop
14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL
Website: www.lrbshop.co.uk
Visited:
Mary Jones World
Llanycil, Bala, Gwynedd LL23 7YF
Website: www.bydmaryjonesworld.org.uk
Visited:
Monk’s House
Rodmell, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3HF
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/monks-house
Visited:
Moomin Museum
Tampere Hall, Yliopistonkatu 55, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Website: muumimuseo.fi
Visited:
Much Ado Books
8 West Street, Alfriston, East Sussex, BN26 5UX
Website: muchadobooks.com
Visited:
Persephone Books
59 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB
Website: www.persephonebooks.co.uk
Visited:
Plas Tan Yr Allt Historic Country House
Tremadoc, Porthmadog, Gwynedd, LL49 9RG
Website: www.plastanyrallt.co.uk
Visited:
Poets’ Corner ✓
South Transept, Westminster Abbey, 20 Dean’s Yard, London SW1P 3PA
Website: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poets%27_Corner
Visited: 1994
Richard Booth’s Books ✓
44 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR3 5AA
Website: www.boothbooks.co.uk
Visited: 2018
Scarthin Books of Cromford
The Promenade, Cromford, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3QF
Website: www.scarthinbooks.com
Visited:
Shakespeare and Company Independent Bookstore
37 rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France
Website: shakespeareandcompany.com
Visited:
Ways With Words Festival of Words and Ideas
Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL
Website: www.wayswithwords.co.uk/festivals/ways-with-words-festival-of-words-and-ideas-at-dartington-hall-24
Visited:
Wigtown: Scotland’s National Book Town
Dumfries and Galloway
Website: www.booktownscotland.com
Visited:
Words by the Water Festival
Keswick, Cumbria
Website: www.wayswithwords.co.uk/festivals/words-by-the-water–the-lake-district-23
Visited:
The Writers’ Museum
Lawnmarket, Lady Stair’s Close, Edinburgh EH1 2PA
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum
Visited:
A Little List of List Links
- BBC News: The Art of List-Making
- The New Yorker: A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists
- The Phrontistery: Word lists and language resources