Top Ten Things on my Bookish Bucket List

This is my first Top Ten Tuesday post! I’ve been astounded at all the people who seem to come up with top ten lists on the fly–I could never do that! Recently, I realized that the good folks at The Broke and The Bookish publish the topics ahead of time. Aha! With a bit of advanced thought, I probably can come up with lists for some of these topics.

The top thing on my Bookish Bucket List is:

1. Visit England

So, the next nine are dependent on my making the first one happen (it looks like it’s coming together for September):

2. Buy a book in an English bookstore

3. Visit Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey

4. Have an “I read this in Charles Dickens” moment

5. Have an “I read this in Jane Austen” moment

6. Have several “What romance or mystery novel did I read this in?” moments

7. Read a book on a train in England

8. Visit Stonehenge and remember the stories told by Edward Rutherfurd (Sarum)

9. Watch the English like Kate Fox (Watching the English)

10. Fall in love with England like Susan Allen Toth (My Love Affair with England)

What other bookish things should I do while I’m in England?

Comments

Top Ten Things on my Bookish Bucket List — 27 Comments

Trish on March 25, 2014 at 7:41 am said:

Fun list! You might check out Persephone Books when you’re in London. I’ve heard nothing but good things.

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Ali on March 25, 2014 at 9:03 am said:

You could visit Thomas Hardy’s Wessex, or Dorset in real life. His Casterbridge is the city of Dorchester. Hastings on the south coast is a fantastic place to visit, and nearby Battle, had the best fish and chips in Hastings. Jack Horner’s pub on Tottenham Court Road in London is a favourite place for lunch, and visit Forbidden Planet while you’re in London, it’s the bets place to find all things sci-fi and fantasy.

And make sure you get a cream tea from somewhere, proper tea with milk, scones with jam and clotted cream. Desserts in non-chain pubs are usually a delight. If you go to Guildford, go to the Jolly Farmer by the river Wey, you can watch narrowboats going along the canal to the lock, and see the cathedral where they filmed part of The Omen.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 9:21 am said:
  
  Thanks, Ali! Wonderful things to add to my list!
  
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Milka on March 25, 2014 at 10:23 am said:

If you have a chance, go to the National Portrait Gallery in London and check out the portrait of Jane Austen Cassandra Austen drew/painted. Back in 2009 seeing that portrait was one of the sole reasons I wanted to travel to London and I must admit I had a total geek out moment there.

When it comes to bookstores in London, you should check out Foyles – I’m going to London in May and can’t wait to spend a couple of hours in that glorious place.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 11:22 am said:
  
  Thanks — those are both great suggestions!
  
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Haralee on March 25, 2014 at 10:26 am said:

Can’t wait to enjoy your trip like I did with your Paris trip. Go to Selfride’s?

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 11:23 am said:
  
  Selfridges is on my list! I really enjoy the BBC show. I went to their website and they have lots of great history with fun photographs.
  
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Alex Baugh on March 25, 2014 at 11:11 am said:

What a great list. I love England. When I took my daughter there, we went to Stonehenge, but we did it on a small tour so that we could go into where the stones are and walk around late in the day to early evening. They picked us up in London and it was pricey but well worth it. We are were taken to other ruins and crop cirlces. My daughter was in 7th heaven.

York is also a very old, romantic place and doable in one day. In fact, most places can be done daily from London on a British Rail Pass. Oh, I think you will have such a good time, especially after reading about your trip to France. You do know how to make the most of a trip.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 11:24 am said:
  
  Thanks! That Stonehenge tour sounds fabulous. I’ve been surprised how much is doable as a day trip out of London. Things are much closer than I imagine living here in the Midwest where everything is more spread out.
  
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carol on March 25, 2014 at 12:35 pm said:

What a great list. Have a wonderful time!

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Suzanne on March 25, 2014 at 7:46 pm said:

Visit Charing Cross Road with all of the new and used bookshops.
See a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre in London and/or the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford.
Visit the Reading Room at The British Museum
Have a wonderful time!!!

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 8:10 pm said:
  
  More great suggestions — thanks! Charing Cross Road would be so fun.
  
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Arabella on March 25, 2014 at 8:00 pm said:

Lots of great suggestions I second the recommendation to visit Persephone books there is a store near the British Museum. I also recommend Guildford as it is the major centre from which to catch a local bus to the Watt Gallery and chapel, I cannot over exaggerate how magnificent that tiny chapel is, it is a truly magical place and for a literary connection Aldous Huxley is buried in the cemetery there. The chapel is not well known but is possibly the greatest masterpiece of art nouveau. The National Portrait gallery is also worth a visit as is the national gallery next door but don’t get food or coffee at the gallery cafe’s, go across the road to St Martins in the Fields and go down into their café in the crypt, it is a much more atmospheric place to recharge, if your lucky you can catch rehearsals upstairs in the church.
I also second everything said about York, another magical place to visit and if you go north don’t forget Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage museum also definitely worth a visit but I do think the north of England is more than a day trip but for anyone into history it is well worth it.
London is full of places to visit, some not as well known as they should be. The William Morris gallery in Walthamstow an outer suburb is worth a visit and is easy to find. For a book to read on the underground how about Gaiman’s Neverwhere a novel that forever changed how I viewed the London Underground.
I hope you enjoy your trip when you make it, I love the UK, don’t get to visit often enough. The Samuel Johnson line about when a man is tired of London he is tired of life is very true, it is a city I could happily spend a lifetime in.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 8:12 pm said:
  
  Wow! This is great. I’m so glad I asked this question. I never imagined so many wonderful places to visit!
  
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Sallie W-T on March 25, 2014 at 9:20 pm said:

If you have the time, you should visit Cecil Court in London (it’s a street of booksellers) and also check out the British Library (wonderful museum inside with lots of handwritten manuscripts and other goodies).

http://www.cecilcourt.co.uk/
http://www.bl.uk/#

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 25, 2014 at 9:40 pm said:
  
  Thanks! Those both look terrific!
  
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Vasilly on March 25, 2014 at 9:21 pm said:

Love your list!

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Isi on March 26, 2014 at 7:23 am said:

Ohh I visited London in December and I didn’t want to come back to Spain!
I met one of my blogger friends and we together went to book shopping, can it be more perfect?
Hope all your British dreams come true 🙂

PS: I would also love to visit Scotland; that land seems magin in the books!

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Kimberly on March 26, 2014 at 4:01 pm said:

I love your list, I want to visit e
lots of places I’ve read about and have “I read this in_____” moments. I’m going to have to check out My Love Affair with England.
Thanks for stopping by my
TTT post
–Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

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Elizabeth Saunders on March 31, 2014 at 7:35 am said:

Charing Cross and Cecil Court put me in a wonderful biblio-coma! http://elizabethsaunders.blogspot.com/search/label/England (scroll down)

Farther from London, there’s a small Jane Austen museum in Bath. And King Arthur’s tomb in Glastonbury. South of Stonehenge, you can visit Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral.

English trains are a great way to travel any distance – and a better deal if you book them before you leave the USA.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 31, 2014 at 9:34 am said:
  
  Thanks! I bookmarked your book hunting in London posts for reference!
  
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mpartyka on March 31, 2014 at 8:47 am said:

I seek out local bookstores everywhere I go. When I was in Oxford last year I was sad to see the five story, twisty stairwell local store was owned by BN. I’m always on the look out for quaint places.

Aren’t you going to England this year?

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Louise on March 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm said:

What a great list. I’m sure you’ll have an amazing trip- your preparation reading will add so much to your trip. We visited London briefly last year with a large family group, it was a great experience. I visited the Charles Dickens Museum which was really interesting, the Tower of London of course. I’m not sure how to specifically tie the Victoria and Albert to books (although I’m sure it can be done)- it was definitely a London highlight for me- astonishing, and not to be missed.

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Alysia @My Little Pocketbooks on March 31, 2014 at 11:26 pm said:

I would love to visit England too! I see an England theme here. 🙂

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Brenda on April 8, 2014 at 9:36 pm said:

I don’t see the British Museum mentioned. I want to live there. Aren’t there 20 volumes of Orwell’s letters to his mother?

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Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories on April 9, 2014 at 3:07 pm said:

I love the Dickens and Austen aha moments in your list. I enjoy the longer Bloggiesta’s too. I was only able to work on my to-do list on Thursday and Friday because Saturday we headed off to Florida for spring break 🙂 Still, I was happy with what I accomplished, small victories! 🙂

Good luck getting to England since all your bucket list dreams depend on it!

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Allison @ The Book Wheel on May 1, 2014 at 4:26 pm said:

I went to London when I was 13 (long before Harry Potter) with my Girl Scout troop and I was too young to appreciate the literary places. I need to go back and have my own “tour” 🙂 I love that this was a Top Ten Tuesday – I hope you come by and link it up to the Original Bookish Bucket List, too!

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