Trying my hand at something new, and (hopefully permanently?) adding a meme to my regular schedule here!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish, and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s prompt is all about bookstores and libraries you’d like to visit, and I’m not sure I have ten to talk about but that’s just one more reason to keep looking for new places, right?

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the places that are definitely on my list.

Shakespeare and Company

A list like this, coming from me, would never be complete without Shakespeare and Company. Paris is a city that’s been on my bucket list of places to visit forever, and this bookstore has been on it nearly as long. I’m a sucker for a bit of romance to flavour my travels, imaginary or otherwise, and it doesn’t get more appealing for me than a second-hand bookstore in Paris where the visitors can stay in exchange for a spot of work (if you’re a writer or artist, of course)!

*Wistful sigh* One day!

The Open Book

On that note, let’s bring it home for a minute or two, because if I’m charmed by the idea of going to Paris for an experience like that, let’s not forget that there’s a similar one to be had much closer! The Open Book is “a bookshop holiday experience” – you get to run a bookshop while staying in the one-bedroom flat upstairs. Truly, my heart’s desire is to work in a bookshop one day! This one’s located in Wigtown, Scotland’s national booktown, and it is firmly in my sights as a place to visit.

At the Sign of the Dragon

Staying in Wigtown for this one, because a) this shop sells science fiction and fantasy, both new and secondhand, and b) I just love the name. I mean, come on. Obviously I have to go here.

Powell’s City of Books

Portland, in Oregon, claims a massive bookstore as a tourist attraction. That alone is reason enough for me to want to go there, am I right? Having actually heard reliably good things about this place from friends in the US, I am more determined than ever that one day I will explore here. Though I’m not sure going alone would be wise because it’s entirely possible that I would never come back out. And no, that’s not a complaint or even a concern. Just a fact.

City Lights

Moving on to another city I’ve wanted to visit for years – this one’s in San Francisco, and its history is all tied up with the Beats movement, and it doesn’t just sell books but publishes them too! I love a place with a fascinating history, and City Lights has that by the bucketload. No wonder, then, that it’s on my travelling wish list.

Borderlands Books

… And while I’m in San Francisco, I could never leave it without a visit to Borderlands. It specialises in new and used SF/F, it’s been featured with love in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye novels, and its name makes me immediately think of urban fantasy adventures. Naturally, I must go here one day.

That’s about it from me for now, but please do share your own bookish hot spots in comments! I am always here for new and interesting places to explore. Enlighten me!