| Title | : | The Book Lover's Bucket List: A Tour of Great British Literature |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0712353240 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780712353243 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | Published October 1, 2021 |
Start with Chaucer, Dickens, and Larkin in Westminster Abbey. Spend an afternoon at Colliers Wood Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire and take in the lake D. H. Lawrence described as "all grey and visionary, stretching into the moist, translucent vista of trees and meadow." Venture south to Cornwall and work your way up to the Scottish Highlands, taking detours to Northern Ireland in the west and Norfolk in the east.
There are gardens, monuments, museums, churches, and a surprising quantity of stained glass. There are walks both urban and rural, where you can explore real landscapes or imaginary haberdasher’s shops. There‘s the club where Buck’s Fizz was invented and a pub where you can eat Sherlock’s Steak & Ale Pie. And there’s a railway station where you can stroke the muzzle of one of the world’s most famous and endearing bears.
Wherever you are in the United Kingdom, you're never far from something associated with a good book.
The Book Lover's Bucket List: A Tour of Great British Literature Reviews
-
What an utterly delightful literary romp through the UK! Travel guide books tend to be useful but dry (they can't help it, that's just the genre). But not this one - it easily earns its 5-star rating.
Yes, this book covers the sort of sites you'd typically think of visiting - authors' homes and birthplaces (like Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon, Jane Austen's Chawton house). But it is also chockful of locations (and tidbits about those places) that, while not on the typical tourist itinerary, were integral to the author's life, served as inspiration for their stories, or are the real-life locations of fictional novels.
Take a walking tour of Birmingham, where J.R.R. Tolkien grew up, and whose industrial smoky air inspired the hellscape of Mordor. Or visit the University of London's Senate House, whose imposing art deco architecture served as the real-life inspiration behind George Orwell's Ministry of Truth. The book also features museums, such as the recently opened tribute to Roald Dahl. You can even visit the actual Birnam Wood made famous by that one Scottish play.
There are churches, estates (like Lyme Park, recognizable to any Pride and Prejudice fans), and small villages that are all, in one way or another, connected to British literature.
Practically every author of import in British literature is mentioned, including many recognizable names like Lord Byron and C.S. Lewis, Keats, Wordsworth, and Dickens. But included are also names I had never heard of and yet played an important role in Britain's literature scene.
And perhaps most important, Caroline Taggart is an entertaining and thoroughly researched writer. Every entry is both educational and witty. This book is a must-read for anyone planning a trip to the UK, or who just wants to do some armchair traveling.
Thank you to British Museum Publishing for providing me with an ARC to review! -
Discover the literary locations of Great Britain ( well some of them!)
An easy five stars. A guide for booklovers, booktrailers and book people of all kinds who love to delve deeper into books and the lives of writers. The classics are all here such as Dickens and Chaucer but this book brings you Ali Smith and more modern tales and the mix is simply divine. There's so much to see and do and it would be wonderful to do this trail for real. Ah the dream! I was surprised I had been to so many already but there are so many gems I have yet to visit for real when we can. For now, however it was wonderful to do them via books and in my imagination.
I do love a book with photos, pictures and writing too and this was nicely done to really make both the books and the places pop. There is a lot to like here and so much reading and travel potential. That perhaps is the only downside to the book - that you will be buying more books and travelling more as a result. Oh the pressures until lockdown is lifted! That just means this book is ideal for preparation for the real event - as we all know literary travel provides huge joy and adventure in its own right.
I had so many books and ideas of places that I thought the book should have covered but then you can't please everyone can you and there are bound to be places that you feel should be there. Just means there's room for a 'sequel' Yippee!
Imagine having this on your coffee table and delving in from time to time to literary travel and dream all things bookish? Yes please! -
My chief complaint is that there were no maps! A single map per section would have been very helpful to see where different cities were that were mentioned... I have a decent grasp of geography, but a visual is always helpful when talking about travel.
(Fun note: I purchased this book while visiting Abbotsford in Scotland... It seemed an appropriate souvenir.) -
forever grateful for my bestie to have find this gem and gifted it to me. it reads so well, excites your curiosity and your will to go on a long adventure in Britain (it also fueled my favorite hobby of adding locations to visit on google maps!).
-
Nice enough but the section on Wales is disappointing - 3 places?!
-
This is an interesting guidebook that points out places to visit in the UK relating to authors and book settings. The author has done her research and there are lots of interesting tidbits. I made the mistake of trying to read it from beginning to end (using it for an SRC challenge task), but it would have been much more fun to dip into or to choose people/places from the contents based on whom I had already heard of. I ended up reading it in order but in very short increments while reading other books in between. It is a book that I would want to reference or take along if I take a trip to England.
Also noting that the font is rather small. -
I bought this book in the Haworth Parsonage gift shop, because I wanted to buy a book in the Bronte’s birthplace but already owned all their work. This was a charming effort, with some humorous asides. In a comprehensive, nationwide guide, there’s never going to be exhaustive detail, but I applaud Taggart for managing to be entertaining and informative in a small space, as well as doing her best to include more modern and diverse ‘classics’. Obviously such an effort will always be hampered by the fact that so much space is required for the heavyweights of centuries, but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.
-
Overall, a great overview of British literature. My only comment is that the author appears to favor older works and gives short shift to Wales (only three locations). For example, in Oxford there's no mention of Dexter (and Morse) which seems like an oversight given how wonderful and popular those mysteries are. The majority of the authors seem to be writing pre-1950 - nothing necessarily wrong with that but missing some of what I think are iconic British locations/authors.
-
Beautiful hard back edition with lovely photographs and illustrations. The book divides the United Kingdom into 8 sections and within each section, Taggart talks about significant literary places to visit and the authors and / or characters relationship to that spot. She also includes websites for further research. Lovely book to dip into….and I wish I had a trip to the UK to plan.
-
A lovely guidebook (divided by region) for anyone who is interested in British literature and literary travel in the UK. I savoured it reading just a few pages at a time over several weeks and now would love nothing more than to plan a trip through the UK hitting all the places connected to my favourite authors!
-
This beautifully produced travel guide is a perfect companion for your staycations around the UK. Very informative, with plenty of illustrations - great for a bit of inspiration for literary sites and landscapes! It will make a great gift for any book lover.
-
A nice guide to places with a literary connection. Well written with small pieces on various authors and the places where they lived or wrote about etc. well worth reading and keeping ready for holidays in the UK.
-
So many literary places to visit. This book makes it easy to visit without actually going there, but where is the fun in that.
I have added a few to my UK wish list such as Ashdown Forest (Pooh Bear) and The "Ministry of Truth"/Senate House, Uni of London. -
Brilliant and lovely guide to some bookish places to visit in great Britain. From the brontes to Virginia woolf it gives brief information on the various authors and places. This was really good.
-
I learned of this book via this post:
https://messybaker.wordpress.com/2022... -
This will be a great book to reference before trips to the United Kingdom.
-
Fascinating and gave me ideas for the next visit!
-
Full review at:
https://theresnoenjoymentlikereading....
