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A very Indian bookshop. I love this place and would visit most weekends. The staff are very helpful and the range of books is pretty amazing. You'll also get an idea what Indians like to read here. The books are cheap and the top floor does all kinds of stationery.
Mahatma Gandhi Road
Basement has a nice bookshop and a very convenient set of computers with internet access. The food is delicious and inexpensive since the restaurant is volunteer run.
24 Lever Street, Northern Quarter (M1 1DZ) (at Piccadilly Gardens & Piccadilly station)
Tel: 0161 237 1832
Fantastic, upmarket, comfy B&B style accommodation with a great restaurant, cosy bar and well-stocked book shop. Ullapool is a lovely town on a breath-taking loch and this is the pick of the places to stay.
18 West Argyle Street, Ullapool, Ross-shire, IV26 2TY
www.ceilidhplace.com
Can't vouch for the stock! but a friendly, helpful owner...bringing you down to "Moffat-time" after you've hurtled up the M6 in that "2001"-type-rush thats possible in the flat borderlands north of carlisle. As for Moffat itself: a haven for bus tours and it shows, the cafe's look cutesy but they extend for miles behind a genteel fascade, to cater for millions of pensioners stopping for a wee on their bus tour to Balmoral! Forget nice coffee, cake or even decent locally produced fry-ups. Its in a country kitchen stylee but its as formulaic, dated, bland and tasteless as your nearest DFS.
Moffat, Southern Uplands, Scotland
Mood is a bookstore in a lovely square in central Turin, and it's put together a bookstore and a cafe so you can sit down and read the books, while having an espresso or an aperitivo. The interior is modern with an industrial feel.
Via Cesare Battisti, 3/E - 10123 - Torino
0115660809(Bookstore) - 0115188657(Caffè)
www.moodlibri.it
It keeps in the fine tradition of Indian bookshops the country over of stocking a wildly varied selection of books in English, Tibetan, Nepalese and Hindi, and some in other European languages.
The English selection is excellent, with a large number of books on Tibetan religion and other issues, on Himalayan wildlife as well as a really decent fiction section.
Modern classics, proper classics and airport novels all sit happily together. Plus you can get second-hand books too. And they'll buy the books back off you too.
Don't talk politics with the old guy behind the counter - I made an off the cuff remark (something non-offensive and conciliatory towards the position he was outlining) and got a book thrown at me for not agreeing enough.
Smack bang in the centre of town
Melenio cafe is a great place in the centre of Oia. It is on a little terrace and has the best views over Santorini. Very different to the rest of the restaurants/cafes in the village, very relaxed with amazing cakes and fresh juices.
Oia hostel is a great, clean and cheap place to stay (and Santorini certainly isn't cheap). It's very un-hostel like in a positive way and in an excellent location.
Ammoudi port is the best place for a swim in Oia; however the climb back up to the village is pure torture. It is a rocky cove with the clearest water I have ever seen, but space is limited so get there early.
Visiting vineyards is a must, especially as most have small restaurants attached.
Also, Atlantis Books is a rare find of a bookshop anywhere in the world. It is in Oia centre and must be visited, international literature, and the shop is a delight.
About the best indie bookstore in the whole country.
Tattered Cover Book Store
Colorado
www.tatteredcover.com
Tel: 1-800-833-9327
Spend the morning wandering around Arundel. The bookshop at the bottom of town is fantastic. There are serious antiquities in shops just off the high street, particularly down the side of the post office. For cheaper curios, head down Tarrant Street and check out the Nineveh centre, a converted church with lots of small shops. Think of it as like a better version of Camden or Portobello, without the crowds.
High Street and Tarrant Street, Arundel.
Most people won't ever be in Ludhiana except on business, but if you do land up here don't miss this bookshop. It must be one of the largest and most diversely stocked bookshops in India, and also the most eccentric!
It has been there for as long as anyone can remember and it looks it. The opening is pretty normal, in the middle of the bazaar, and then it just gets longer and longer and some terribly rickety stairs lead you to the upper floor stocking more books: if you trust the wood to hold you up that is.
They never throw any stock away, so if you dig around hard enough, you may come across "rarities" that have been unsold, lets say, since the 1950s and the owner will carefully convert the shillings and pence at the back to charge you (I picked up a cookery book for 2 Rs).
And if you are academically minded or just a university student, there is not a bookshop that I have seen that staggers under such a wide variety of books on any subject you may be pursuing, be it organic chemistry, engineering geology or vast amounts of English literature.
Staff are knowledgeable about their own section, and helpful (they go around switching fans on and off according to the section you are in) and no one cares if you spend hours browsing.
Warning: bring a duster, as they never seem to have got around to cleaning any but the most popular sections, and that is ususally limited to the top layer!
Lyall Book Depot
Chaura Bazaar
Ludhiana
Punjab
Most amazing bookshop. Looks small and crowded but has an amazing collection of titles on every subject. Ask if you can't find something and the staff know where everyhting is!
The Bookworm
Khan Market
New Delhi
Tel: 011 2332 2260
If you are obsessed with cinema this is the store filled to the rafters with the books of your dreams.
Hollywood Blvd. across from Musso & Frank's Grill.
www.larryedmunds.com
Think of a bookshop in a shopping mall and you expect a lot of glossy coffee table books and best sellers. You would be wrong, because this is a very serious, large, well-stocked bookshop in every subject (2 floors) and you can spend hours browsing.
If you are amazed by the number of people browsing everything from cookery to music, be prepared for the check-out. There are nine tills, and from the crowd it looks like they are giving books away. Be patient and enjoy the fact that you are in crowd of people who don't mind waiting for 20 minutes to pay for books! It's not to say the bookshop is inefficient, it's just the number of people it attracts.
Midland bookshop,
Phorum Mall
Bangalore
The Café du Livre is a new place in the heart of Guéliz, the new part of town. It's a second hand bookstore, mostly English, great selection, with lots of magazines, newspapers, guidebooks for browsing and a very reasonably priced menu done by two michelin star chef Richard Neat of Casa Lalla (who hangs out there all the time, as do all writers and journalists because they have a wifi connection). It's hidden, very low key, very cosy and a great place to have breakfast, lunch or an early dinner as they serve non stop from 9.30 to 21.00. Not to be missed.
44 rue Tarik Ben Ziad (in the patio of Hotel Toulousain, just behind the old Guéliz market);
tel: 024 43 21 49
A terrific bookshop filled with interesting books, music, journals and informative, helpful staff. Ask for Dave Clarke, he knows his stuff.
Lygon St, Carlton
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