Book Towns

If you are a lover of literature, if you find true happiness within the pages of a book, then this is the read for you. Featuring 45 cities and towns around the globe that celebrate literature through their history, printers, libraries and book stores, this is a must for every book lover and armchair traveler. Filled with gorgeous photos guaranteed to give you itchy feet

This book details the history of book towns. Informative, with gorgeous photography....makes the reader long to seek out each and every bookish destination.

This is perfect for any bibliophile who likes to go abroad. With its gorgeous photos and succinct yet informative descriptions, this work exposes book-lovers to a wonderfully varied collection of miniature paradises and gives them more than ample motivation to hatch new plans for travel.

This book is the perfect "coffee table" book, with detailed descriptions of over 40 book towns. Along with the fascinating history, it contains beautiful photography from all over the world. Perfect for those who love travel, history, or just books in general.

"Book Towns" is an essential travel guide for book lovers planning the ultimate literary itinerary. A book town is not simply a place with a couple of secondhand shops; it is a place where reading permeates the architecture, economy, festive events, and general atmosphere of the town. Many of the featured book towns are located in Europe, but every continent (aside from Antarctica) makes at least one appearance.

Absolutely loved this book. I was concerned that the towns suggested would only be in one continent but they aren't. Although looks like France has most book towns!
Lovely addition to the library if you're a book lover and traveler. I'll definitely try and visit this book towns - I wish I knew a few of them - Swede and Norwegian ones- as I recently wandered quite near by but didn't have a clue they were there!
Highly recommended. Also photos are amazing.

Book Towns is my kind of travel guide. Packed full of photographs, it showcases 45 books towns from around the world.

Book towns are small towns, often in rural and scenic locations, which are packed full of bookshops and book-related industries. The book town movement began with the wonderful Hay-on-Wye in Wales in 1960s and has grown significantly since then.

I have only visited two book towns to date – Hay-on-Wye in Wales and Wigtown in Scotland – but this book has provided me with inspiration for so many more trips, from Urueña, the only Spanish town with more bookshops than bars, to Sidney in Canada, which is home to The Haunted Bookshop.

With photographs showing the beautiful locations and, of course, mountains of books, this guide offers a real insight into these havens of literature created by and for book lovers, booksellers, publishers, librarians and printmakers. The author encourages us to visit and to buy a book or two and reminds us that in doing so, you aren’t just helping to save the printed book, you are also helping to keep these communities alive.

It’s the only travel companion a book lover needs.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Needless to say I'm a bookworm and I love going around, finding little gems of book stores where I go. This book covers many towns that has book collecting culture, second hand book shops, etc. In some, famous authors lived. Probably I wouldn't found out easily if it wasn't for this book. It's a very good collection of towns you can look up when you're visiting a country if you want to add another stop enjoying local book shops there.
Highly recommend. Thanks to Neygalley and the publisher for granting a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had never heard of Book Towns or known that such a thing exists, but now I want to visit all of them! This is a wonderful book full of beautiful illustrations and information about each Book Town. There is already a waiting list at my library for this one!

This book was sooooo fun to look through! I was a little annoyed because I thought all the Book Towns would be in Europe but they aren't! Beautiful pictures of book stores, book wagons, book sales, make me want my town to be a book town too!
I want to make sure and take pictures of all the cool book stores and tables and wagons everywhere I travel!

Thanks to netgalley for the read! I loved it!

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group for making me Auto Approved to read their books. Book Towns is a great parade around forty town around the world which has a special place for books.

We travel from Wales to Canada to Spain to Norway to France. Some of the photographs and writing is immense. I haven’t had the privilege of visiting any of the towns mentioned but it is certainly on my list now.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group and Alex Johnson for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent read. Recommended.

I am the kind of person who goes to Portland to spend time at Powell's City of Books. I am the kind of person that when I ran out of room in my luggage, when I was in Australia, shipped as many of the books home, as I could. I'm the kind of person that, when I can, stuffs my suitcases full of books, no matter what city I visit.

So, when I saw this book about book towns, town that are gearted to lovers of books like me, I though it would be fun to read, and so it was. I knew about Hay on Wye, the city that decided to build its legacy on books, and i have been meaning to visit it for years. The cool thing is that according to this book, there are now 44 more areas across the globe, that are trying to recreate what Hay on Wye has done.

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From South Africa to Canada, from New York to Featherson New Zealand, book towns have appeared all over. The book covers each one with a nice photo spread, and a story of the book stores that can be found there, as well as information about book store related festivals.

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The only one I found a little stretched was the one about the "Gold Cities" in the Gold country of California, which is stretched across Nevada City and Grass Valley. The one is only sort of in existence, now and it seems strange, for a travel book, to be talking about what was, rather than what is.

Still, this would be a good starting point for finding cities in the area you want to travel to, that just happen to have book festivals.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This world-wide guide to book towns (small towns or villages devoted to book stores & the book arts) has brief descriptions of each town, often with listings of stores, and lots of charming pictures.

While I'm not entirely sure that all book towns are successful, many described are struggling, it's lovely as a guide to these quirky places for travelers, even those in armchairs.

Book Towns by Alex Johnson is a beautiful history of book towns from around the world! A must read for book lovers everywhere! Packed with information and real photos, Book Towns will transport you across countries such as France, USA, Germany, Scotland, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and even South Korea! I really enjoyed learning about each book town and I was surprised at some of the cities! Also included at the end of the book are towns that are not officially labeled as book towns, but they should be! Organized by city in alphabetical order, this is a great book to add to that coffee table collection.

A fascinating insight into Book towns around the world. Who knew there were so many? I was aware of Hay-on -Wye but great to see there are many more. Something interesting on every page. It would make a great coffee table book - I think everyone would find something to grab their interest. I loved the photos, they really added to the attraction of each page. Highly recommend.

This would be the perfect present for someone bookish! It would look great on their coffee table - the photos inside are also beautiful!

Also, I need to move to a book town.

Gorgeous little book about book towns around the world (although they’re mostly in western Europe). I wish there had been more photos, particularly of the insides of the bookshops - what reader doesn’t love seeing bookshop interiors? It’s still very sweet though, and now I want to visit every place mentioned in the book. A great gift for a bookish friend.

Wonderful collection of bibliophile destinations around the world. Definitely european centric but probably not to the authors fault. Overall a very informative and interesting travel guide!

This book is a book lover's dream. The descriptions and photos make me desperate to visit each town pictured. I got the netgalley after the book was published and have already stocked the book.

Very interesting book. I visited one of the book towns mentioned in the book (In Kolkata) and thoroughly enjoyed my trip. Having read about it in this book, i was able to appreciate the book market much more than i would have had I not read the book.

Now, every book town that the author talks about is in my bucket list of places to visit and explore.

#BookTowns #NetGalley

Beautiful catalog of bookstores cities to try during the travel with reference websites to prepare the travel of any book lover

This would make a great gift for any bibliophile, particularly one who loves to travel. The book examines various cities worldwide that have a thriving book culture. Lovely photographs and a cute concept.

Gorgeous! So many wonderful places illustrated through the commonality of books. As a librarian, nothing makes me happier.

Review: interesting nonfiction about book towns. Towns that have a high amount of book stores in them. Which I found fascinating as there aren't that many used bookstores where I am. This id's a good gift idea for someone who loves books or themed travels.

This book features 45 towns around the world that hold the world of literature to a high standard. There re lots of book shops as well as special events in each town devoted to books. The books shops can specialize in new, used, antique, children's, or any other type of book you can imagine. Not only are the shops the high points to get a town listed in this book but really anything that has to do with books as well like book binding, Authors and more.

The photos in this book are outstanding. There are tons of photos featuring store fronts, people at work with the books, a town view and more.

You also learn a bit about each town featured.. The history, why they have been featured in the book. There are links to each towns celebrations and more as well as directions to get you to the towns.

If you are a book love you will love this book.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

If you enjoy browsing bookshops and are a bit of a traveller at heart this is the perfect books for you! This is a pictorial version of my bucket list, a fabulous book reviewing go to places for the book lover, towns pop ups and hints on where to go for more information. Each section reviews each location, a bit of history as to why its so special and lots of photographs. The perfect gift for a book lover.

This was a fantastic, beautiful and informative book that I would recommend to all book lovers! I always wanted to travel one day to all the beautiful places that revolve around literature. It's amazing all the unique and beautiful places. I can't wait to the day I can travel to these places like Hay-On-Wye but for now it was fantastic to travel to all these beautiful bibliophile centered places via this book!

A gorgeous book showing us the beautiful towns around the world that are dedicated to the written word, ‘Book Towns’ is a must read for a reader with wanderlust.

Giving brief biographies of these places along with highlights to visit this book really gives a great perspective of these different towns, keeping it honest but also highlighting just what these towns have to offer when it comes to your literary needs. Places such as Clunes in Australia for example stands out for me for its interesting and unique way of selling books - by preserving its past.

These biographies are accompanied by some gorgeous photography. In particular, Fjaerland in Norway’s entry in this book has some stunning photos of the views found in the town and Redu in Belgium’s pages showcase both it’s beauty and the talents of its residents, something that is a theme throughout this book as it shows not just bookshops but binders, paper makers and libraries as well.

A book that will make you want to grab your passport (if you love books, of course) and leave your house for one, Book Towns is a concise and beautifully made book that highlights some incredibly unique places, whether they be town, cities or even just a street.

Whenever I travel, be it near or far, I always look for the local bookshops where I love to browse and buy. Shakespeare and Co. in Paris, Daunt Books in London, Politics and Prose in DC...you get the idea. So, you can imagine that I might find this book appealing and indeed I do. "Book Towns" is a book about towns like Hay on Wye where there are many bookshops and book festivals. I learned that many book towns began in order to improve local economies. In this book, many such towns are visited. The armchair traveler can spend time in France, England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Finland, the U.S., South Africa, etc. Plus, if you are planning a trip to one of the towns mentioned, you will know just where to go. The photographs made me long to be in each and every town and store. I highly recommend this book for all bibliophiles. Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto.

Although I have been to Wigtown on a number of occasions either to its Autumn literary festival or just spending hours idly perusing the shelves of used books in the numerous shops I did not until reading this book realise that so-called “Book Towns" are a phenomena that can be found throughout the world. Several of them have been planned to facilitate regeneration where the town had become depressed due to the loss of previous employers as was the case with Wigtown while others have grown more organically. This wonderful coffee table type book looks at 40 such book towns from around the world with truly sumptuous photographs placed alongside informative text.

We learn of the how each book town came into existence, descriptions of what can be found there and when is the best time to visit. Many of them now host literary festivals and can be major tourist attractions at certain times of the year. But with such books the main selling point is of course the wonderful photographs that they contain and here they are simply superb with exterior and interior pictures. I particularly liked the Norwegian road side bookstalls that had honesty boxes for the purchases. Certainly I can see many book lovers taking this as an inspiration when planning future holidays indeed Damme is only a short distance from Bruges and can be easily reached from there via the canal towpath.

It takes only a couple of hours to complete the book but I'm sure for many it will be a book that will be dipped in and out of. If you are a bibliophile than this is a must for you.

Book Towns collects, as the name would suggest, Book Towns from all over the world. It was an interesting little book for those of us who breathe books, so to speak. I couldn't help but be attracted to them and have added several (in Belgium and The Netherlands) that I would like to visit this summer. Others I would like to visit in the future.

Every town is featured with a story, and several pictures as well as some information. While in general this was really nice, it felt like some of the Book Towns didn't have enough information to really fill the pages. Also, it became repetitive a bit, as most book towns were generated from a Marketing/Tourism point of view and the story was often the same. Also also, it was sad to read that quite a few of them were way past their heyday.

Still a nice read for book lovers.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A delightful little book that gives a brief introduction to different book towns around the world. I now have lots of new places to add to my bucket list.

The author also runs a blog at https://www.onthebookshelf.co.uk/

Despite its unassuming and slightly uninspiring cover, this is a wonderful coffee table book. It showcases Book Towns around the world to explore, drool and fantasize over so is perfect to look at while you or visitors are having a cup of tea or coffee.  If like me, you don't know what book towns are they are towns dedicated to literature with book shops, festivals and history. They are bibliophiles' dream locations. This non-fiction book covers over 40 of them and inspires with it's stunning photographs, simple format and descriptions. It made me want to be there to experience the shops, smell the books and browse the endless bookshelves for the perfect book or two or three. I would love to visit them all especially Hay-on-Wye, Sedbergh and Wigtown as they are in the UK but I long to travel to Fjaerland in Norway. If I won the lottery I would go on a worldwide tour ticking them off one by one.
It is an ideal addition to a bookcase and would make a lovely gift for book lovers and travellers. I long for a physical copy to treasure and dream over.
I was given a digital copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Book Town ENVY. The pictures in this book are GORGEOUS and I want to go to every single place mentioned in this book! Heck, I want to LIVE in them all! This book will make you DROOL with how some people, and even countries, live re: book love.

The only sad thing is that there were quite a few book towns that have gotten smaller and some that have even folded up. Which leads me to why this is a 4 and not a five star book. This book is already dated I am sure. If one were to read this book more than a year after it came out, I would hazard a guess that some of the places mentioned would have changed. Maybe for the better I would hope, though depressingly probably the other way.

I would highly recommend this book if you 1) love books, 2) love to travel (in reality or via "armchair travel" via a book) and 3) find beauty in the impermanence of things. This book is more sweet than bitter, so it's not overly sad, but it is there. I think most users of any book site will love this book and it would make an EXCELLENT gift. I would personally recommend the "real" book rather than eBook format, if only because of the pictures. They are GORGEOUS, but I couldn't figure out how to make them bigger without making the whole thing wonky. That's just me being tech-challenged, but if pressed, I will always say the real book is better. Usually. ; ) So a solid 4 stars!

My thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln for the invitation and eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you to Alex Johnson, Quarto Publishing Group, Frances Lincoln, and NetGalley for allowing me the extreme pleasure of access to an advanced reader copy of “Book Towns: Forty Five Paradises of the Printed Word” for an honest review.

I jumped at the title of this book immediately, and I thought it was tongue-in-cheek somehow for what it would be focused on (books, of course, and maybe where to find them), but then it arrived and I spent the whole time this book was open hungrily devouring the sights, sounds, and details of something I never knew exited - BOOK TOWNS.

Actual, factual book towns. The photography took my breath away in several shots, and I started making lists of where I wanted to start visiting before I even got to one third of the way through. I want a copy of this for my house, and a copy to take traveling with me across the US and internationally!

I now have a new ambition – to visit all the places described in this enchanting compendium of book towns all around the world. Who knew there were so many! Beautifully illustrated, this is an essential volume for every book lover, even for those who can only dream of visiting any of the towns featured.

If you truly love books you will not be able to fault this book.
I know this is a bold statement and I have no wish to court controversy or cause offence. My point is this. Here is a book that that encourages the promotion of all things booky and sees that focus through the dedicated individuals who have tirelessly worked to regenerate their towns and communities by encouraging the promotion of books.
In the process these communities have reached out through selling books, attracting other arts and crafts, the skills around these things like papermaking, printing and bookbinding. But through shops and associated commissioning of awards, literatary events and book fairs visitors have come and towns and districts have flourished again, many maintaining this impetus although bookshops have closed along the way. Books have been instrumental in enriching the local culture. Wow!
The ethos of a book town appears to be the physical item, the hardback or printed paperback. The delight of turning pages, the feel and smell.
In alphabetical order these towns have a couple of pages dedicated to them and their origins and successes. Many are variations on each other, most are driven by one or two persons' vision some inspired by other more famous locations like Hay on Wye (they get 3 pages).
Within this potted history is a range of common details, the location, impact, resources and buildings involved. In some cases nearly every available space is used, honest boxes are available for purchases and pictures reflect the sense of place. Crucially a number of links and websites are listed.
Reading this book was like finding out that a new continent had been discovered. A lost tribe had walked out of the highlands of a previously remote area on a pacific island or Brexit vote never happened.
My world became a new vibrant place; I had reasons to travel and visit new places and in countries as close as France, book towns were a fact. I pinched myself, Father Christmas was a great guy and the Tooth Fairy a generous dental hygienist and England were going to win the World Cup.
So book towns exist they were as different as they were random but like CB radio enthusiasts before, the communication was happening even if I had never heard it. A new reality of communities coalescing around and promoting the printed word existed in greater numbers than some endangered species.

I love this book, it told me that chocolate would continue to be made and enjoyed.
Significantly, the types of confectionary was increasing and where it was available widening.

I love books; book shelves crammed with books. My kindle is filled with access to more books than I could possibly read; but to arrive someplace soon and pick up a well loved book and hold it in my hands is a pleasure that awaits me and seemingly already fills increasing numbers of people with a similar joy.

Book Towns - I love this book.

Booklovers rejoice! This wonderful collection takes readers on a journey around the world, exploring the many "book towns" that exist near and far. Both grand and quaint bookshops alike are photographed and described in writing. I loved finding my own hometown (Sidney, BC) in the book while also discovering a few new places I would like to visit one day! This would be an ideal gift for a book lover and will look lovely on the coffee table.

This book goes through, in photos and words, all the different book towns in the world. It is so enchanting! It's interesting to see how different they look from one country to another, but also interesting to hear how they started and the benefits they have added to their wee towns.

This book is now responsible for creating a whole new travel bucket list for me!

Basically the perfect book for anyone who wants a guide of where to travel without straying far from delightful books and cultural hubs where reading is appreciated, even revered. I had hoped for something a bit more gorgeous for coffee tables but the book is more travel guide than visual candy. I can see myself gifting this to my reading inclined traveling friends and relatives over the holiday season.

Is your town a book town? Does your city read a lot? In Book Towns we take a trip to small towns and places all around the world that have become places who love books and love to read. Whether they are having festivals, or celebrating what books have down to their towns in their own unique ways; Book Towns will leave you wanting to take a literary trip.

I fell in love with book towns when I toured Great Britain two years ago and spent time in Haye-on-Wye and Wigtown so naturally, I was really interested when I got the chance to read this book.
This book showcases all of the known and unknown or less known book towns and their history. Nice photos and, lots of information for everyone who loves books and book shops!

Book Towns by Alex Johnson details 40+ book loving towns from the world over. Full of gorgeous photos, each town entry provides history, as well as practical advice for those wishing to visit the locales. From the UK and Norway, to Japan and India, thirty countries are covered, each known for their love of literature.

I loved flipping through, looking at the pictures, and reading the history of each town. I'm not a huge travel fan, but now I'd really like to visit some of these lovely cities. This is the perfect coffee table book, especially for the travel loving bookworm!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Gorgeously photographed curation of towns that are dedicated, in whole or in part, to the art, lifestyle, appreciation, and reading of books. I found myself smiling from beginning to end and will likely use this as a guiding star for future vacations and ultimate retirement plans. Truly lovely,

This was a great book and made me want to go to most of these places. So many in other countries, especially France. Towns that are all about the books, even having book festivals (which I have never been to but want to so badly) and their bookstores. I loved reading about these things. And the pictures were gorgeous and so inviting! I would take a vacation just to go to these towns! It is a fun book about towns about books. If you enjoy this, then I highly recommend this book for you. It is great!

This book combines two of my favorite things, Book stores and travel. The book travels around the world visiting book towns, taking you far beyond Hay On Wye. The author gives a history of the town, reviews the stores located there and includes any specialties. Short bios of some of the book sellers is also included. The one thing that made me sad reading this book is the realization that Europe loves its book towns more than the US. Sadly the US book towns are struggling. The text is accompanied by wonderful photographs. This book will appeal to book lovers and travelers and will make a great gift. Enjoy this literary arm chair travel and try and get out and visit your own local bookseller.

A lovely book filled to the brim with the history of some very beautiful bookish towns. All over the world people celebrate literature, but some towns do it better than others. Filled with stunning photos, interesting details, and enough book shots to make you squeal in delight, this is an absolute must for any travelling bibliophile you know! And perfect for a coffee table book for those of us who can't get out to travelling right away.

So, long story short, I have just added 45 more locations to my never-ending Bucket List. Honestly though, how could you not want to visit these places!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

As a book nerd and traveler, I loved this book. It was so fantastic to read about awesome touristy locales associated with literary works!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book!

First of all, I LOVE the idea behind this book. LOVE IT. I have visited Hay-on-Wye before, but I never realized how that town had sparked a movement. It was fascinating to read about the different places around the world that have turned themselves into book tourism, essentially. And it definitely added new locations to my bucket list.

The photography in the book was great, too, with lots of illustrative pictures to accompany the text. Whenever I found myself thinking, "I'd like to see what that looks like!" there would be a picture of that very thing.

My only small small critique is the writing itself. I think if the text had been more along the lines of a Rick Steves travel book or a similar advanced travel writer, the atmosphere of the towns would have been caught with more magic. Sometimes the descriptions felt stale or repetitive, which ultimately kept this in the category of "interesting non-fiction" instead of "insta-love" for me.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the book and have already talked it up with several book-loving friends. It would make a great gift for book lovers of all stripes.

This book is the bucket list for all readers and lovers of books! So many places I did not know about and will plan to visit in the near future!