Sunday 11 January 2015

Travel: Oxford Part Two

Favourite Bookshops

I absolutely love bookshops. Even if I have no money to spend, I love walking round a bookshop looking at all the different editions, reading blurbs and looking for books I have never heard of before. I know I have so many books to read but I can’t stop myself from buying new ones!

I thought I would tell you my three favourite places to get books in Oxford and show you a few photos of them.

The Last Bookshop, New Inn Hall Street


The Last Bookshop isn't the prettiest of bookshops to visit but it is definitely the best discount bookshop I have ever been to. Every book in the shop is £3 and you can get two for £5. This has gone up from the £2 a book it used to be, but that’s still a pretty good deal. For a discount bookshop, this has an amazing range of both paperbacks and hardbacks. Their stock changes all the time and I have found some really good bargains in here before.















Arcadia, St. Michael's Street

Whenever I go back to Oxford I cannot resist going to Arcadia and seeing what they have in there. It doesn't look particularly impressive from the outside, but it has a really great selection of vintage Penguin classics, post cards, stationary, scented candles and other exciting trinkets. The people who own the shop are absolutely lovely and really helpful if there is anything in particular you want, and every time I go in there I spot something different to spend my money on! If you’re the sort of person who loves their books to be new and in pristine condition then this definitely isn't the place for you. If you’re anything like me however, and you love old beaten up vintage books as much as new ones, then you wouldn't want to miss this little gem.









































Blackwell's, Broad Street

Finally, no list of bookshops in Oxford would be complete without mentioning Blackwell’s. The shop is spread over four levels and has a separate shop across the road for art books, music and posters. The star of this shop is The Norrington Room which extends underneath the quad of Trinity College and contains over three miles of bookshelves. While it’s not the cheapest of places to find your books, it is a really good place to have a browse and find some new books to add to your to-read lists. Also it has started selling more book related merchandise and stationary recently so it’s worth a look for that too.




That’s all for now! What are your favourite bookshops? Do you have any recommendations? I have a few favourites in London I might post about at a later date :)


Beth x

14 comments:

  1. Blackwell's in Oxford reminds me of Heffers (also a Blackwell's) in Cambridge. I love a massive multi-level bookshop. My new favourite bookshop is Daunt books in Marylebone, so amazing for travel books (guides and fiction).

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    1. Oooh thanks for the recommendation! I live in London but haven't ever been to Daunt books! I will definitely have to check it out :) I know there is one in Cheapside too?

      I definitely need to explore more bookshops in London - might have to write a list and visit them all :D

      Beth x

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  2. The Arcadia book shop looks so cute! Looking at your pictures of bookshops makes me regret buying a Kindle :'( I'm so lazy when it comes to reading though and never have the time to go out and buy a book so my Kindle is the only way I get to browse the latest books! Lovely post!

    summerof69blog.com

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    1. Ah thank you :) Yeah a Kindle probably works out a lot cheaper than all the books I constantly buy! My bedroom is genuinely just full up with books at the moment as I don't have anywhere to store them D:

      I think Arcadia is definitely my favourite for browsing and it's so random day to day what they have in there, which I love!

      Beth x

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  3. These look amazing! I'll definitely check these out when I'm next in Oxford!
    Hattie
    hattiehards.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. I'm glad :) To be fair Oxford is completely full of bookshops, these are just a couple of my favourite in the centre!

      Beth x

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  4. Ah this is a beautiful post. Makes me so jealous.. Dallas doesn't have a lot of great book shops.. or I just haven't found them.

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    1. Ah where do you buy your books? More online than bookshops? I quite enjoy having a look at the physical book before I buy it....not entirely sure why!

      Beth x

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  5. Walking around in a cozy bookshop and doing endless browsing is the best thing. I find it so relaxing! Would love to stop by these when I'm in Oxford :)

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    1. Yes! Even if I'm just going through the same fiction sections of different bookshops I never seem to get bored! You can't beat a pretty independent bookshop really! :)

      Beth x

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  6. I am exactly the same! I have so many books to read, yet keep buying new ones! These shops look great, I hope I will visit Oxford one day and get a Chance to have a browse in one of those shops :)

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    1. Yeah it's actually becoming a problem - I have more books than I have room for! I think I'm going to go on a book buying hiatus and try and read all the books I own but haven't read yet (which is quite a few!)

      Beth x

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  7. These look amazing! Too bad I'm not in Oxford very often. I'll have to visit sometime. :) x

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  8. I just can't even formulate words for how much I want to be in all of these photos right now. The Arcadia one...wow :O xx

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