Earl Grey Books

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is favourite bookstores or the ones you’d most like to visit. I decided to go with a mix, so I have four of each and let’s jump in.

My Favourites

Hatchards – London

As soon as I saw this topic I knew I’d have to talk about Hatchards in London. I’ve been to London a couple of times and somehow I’d always end up in Hatchards. It’s a really beautiful, old store and I’ve spent hours in there, but my favourite thing is that it has a dedicated section to Agatha Christie. While I didn’t buy Christie from here, I still love that my favourite author gets her own section.

The Paperback – Melbourne

Of course, I have to mention a Melbourne one that I visit frequently. The Paperback is my personal favourite because it’s a very small little store but it carries a wide variety of books, including ones I haven’t seen elsewhere. I love to buy those sorts of books from here—the ones I’ve never heard of but are in their staff recommendations or just jump out of me from the shelves.

Trident Booksellers – Boston

I was told that I couldn’t go to Boston without making at least one trip to Trident, and that was definitely true. I spent probably about two hours just walking through this store and admiring all the books they had. I definitely didn’t walk out of there empty handed either. I’m really happy someone recommended this to me, so I’m going to pass on the love and say that if you’re in Boston, you need to make it to Trident.

Just Books – Truro

This one is very niche—Truro is a town in Cornwall so it’s quite out of the way. But I was living in Cornwall for a while a few years ago and I found so much joy in visiting this bookshop every few weeks. It’s down like a little alley (from memory), but it was absolutely fulled to the brim with secondhand books. My aunt and I would easily spend two hours in there and would end up walking out with at least five books each.

My Bucket-List Stores

Powell’s Books – Portland

I’ve watched so many videos of people going to Powell’s or doing hauls from the books they got there that it just has to be on my list. I believe they post being the largest independent bookstore of new and used books in the world, which honestly just sounds fantastic (and dangerous). I’ve never had a reason to go to Oregon before, but I hope to make it here one day.

Shakespeare and Company – Paris

I’ve heard so many fantastic things about Shakespeare and Co that it’s one of the few reasons I’d actually visit Paris. I used to be obsessed with the city as a teenager, but now that I’m in my late 20s, there are just other cities and places that interest me more. But this store (and the museums and galleries) are still part of Paris I’d love to see.

The Ripped Bodice – Los Angeles

If you know me, then you know that I’m a big romance fan so, of course, I couldn’t resist an entire bookstore just dedicated to romance. Just like Paris, I don’t think LA is my kind of city but I would 100% go there just to spend hours looking at all the pretty romance covers and then crying about how I wouldn’t be able to fit them all in my suitcase home.

Fiction & Friction – Murray Bridge

Okay, so this one isn’t open yet but I’m still extremely excited about it. F&F has been running as online store that sells indie and self-pubbed books for a while now and just recently the owner, Britt, has announced she’s opening a physical store. Murray Bridge is in South Australia, so it would be a little bit of a trek for me (though not as bad as leaving the country, obviously) but I hope that I will get to visit once the store is up and running.

That’s it from me today. Do you have any of these on your list? Have you ever visited any?