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Tea and Gargoyles
In Tea and Gargoyles, Mark Valentine explores fiction that seems to hover on the edge of the uncanny, including work by Robert Aickman, Elizabeth Bowen, Gladys Mitchell and Walter de la Mare. He also discusses the more unusual and obscure metaphysical thrillers of the mid twentieth century.
Another essay looks at books that are rarer still: the imaginary titles conjured up in fiction which often, however, seem strangely familiar. His enjoyment of the recondite continues with a delight in a forgotten Edwardian nonsense poet and a shadowy relic of the 1890s, in old board games, and in the esoteric music and journals of the 1970s.
Valentine also celebrates the menagerie of seventeenth-century book-sellers’ signs, an old book about a town populated by bears which has a bookshop open all night, and the book¬shop detectives who uncover even more places to find books. The collection concludes with joyful accounts of book-browsing expeditions in the Marcher country.
Another essay looks at books that are rarer still: the imaginary titles conjured up in fiction which often, however, seem strangely familiar. His enjoyment of the recondite continues with a delight in a forgotten Edwardian nonsense poet and a shadowy relic of the 1890s, in old board games, and in the esoteric music and journals of the 1970s.
Valentine also celebrates the menagerie of seventeenth-century book-sellers’ signs, an old book about a town populated by bears which has a bookshop open all night, and the book¬shop detectives who uncover even more places to find books. The collection concludes with joyful accounts of book-browsing expeditions in the Marcher country.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2026
About the author
Mark Valentine
270 books142 followersMark Valentine is an English author, biographer and editor.
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2026
Mark Valentine is–his sublime fiction aside–a master book hunter whose explorations of the obscure never fail to ignite a sense of anticipation in his readers.
His latest collection, Tea and Gargoyles, continues this tradition, celebrating "old new" titles that dwell in dusty corners of history.
Valentine’s prose serves as a beacon for those who find magic in a forgotten spine or a faded pamphlet.
Below is a survey of some of the articles collected in tea and gargoyles.
On the Edge of the Uncanny
Subtle atmosphere in fiction often surpasses overt supernatural plot devices.
The Witchery of Gladys Mitchell
Traditional folk rituals provide vivid, authentic foundations for mystery narratives.
The Rise of the Metaphysical Thriller Philosophical inquiries into time and reality elevate standard thriller formats.
The Predictable and the Unpredictable in Robert Aickman’s Strange Stories
Melancholic symbols transform traditional ghost stories into rich, meaningful art.
Poets, Lovers and Loners: The Wind Blows Over by Walter de la Mare
Character studies capture pivotal life moments without needing supernatural elements.
‘That Other Reality’: Some Early Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
Precise observations of light and shadow reveal hidden emotional realities.
The Imaginary Bookshelf
Invented literary titles in fiction spark deep readerly curiosity.
Dreaming Over Book Titles with Lord Dunsany
Titles themselves can evoke profound, dreamlike worlds of imagination.
A Book in Old Scarlet
Bodkin and Eden’s A Guide to Caper Eccentric, bookish zest enlivens even the most whimsical literary mysteries.
The Golden Bestiary: Some Seventeenth-Century Booksellers’ Signs Historical trade cards offer fascinating glimpses into early commercial life.
Radio Ghosts
Scholarly wireless talks prepared audiences for modern epic fantasy literature.
A Forgotten Edwardian Nonsense Poet: Norman Boothroyd
Nonsense verse effectively captures the peculiar logic of human dreams.
Dreams at Dusk: Light and Twilight by Edward Thomas
Nature sketches quietly
encompass the spiritual and the unseen world.
The Shadow of Enoch Soames
Literary phantoms haunt the boundaries between living and dead history.
‘The Terrific-Strange’: Some Student Poets of 1965
Youthful poetry adroitly observes the intersection of landscape and identity.
An Archimandrite to Tea
Unexpected literary encounters reveal charming, forgotten social and religious histories.
Bishop’s Move: Victor L Whitechurch’s The Bishop Out of Residence
Conventional plots gain depth through idiosyncratic and sharp character writing.
Gingerbread for the Fisher King Local myths and legends provide a resonant context for literature.
Some Old Books on Travelling Fairs; with an Allingham Aside Historical fairs represent a vanished era of seasonal public revelry.
The Twelve Stations: Blind John Brown, Forgotten Victorian Prophet and Geomancer Forgotten prophets link local topography to broader mystical traditions.
Esoteric Journals of the 1970s Specialized periodicals preserve unique cultural and spiritual counter-movements.
‘Steeped in Antiquity and Fantasy’
Some Esoteric 1970s Music Experimental music can evoke ancient, fantastic, and otherworldly atmospheres.
The Sideways Lands
Unfamiliar settings allow authors to explore unusual historic resonances.
A Drift in Eden
Train journeys into remote country heighten the sense of mystery.
Sixpence for the Weathercock
Small, rural details often hide significant, ancient cultural secrets.
The Sun and the Moon and the Ring-Tailed Lemur
Shared dream imagery reveals spiritual connections beyond the physical world.
The Bookshop Detectives
Amateur investigation into obscure books leads to dangerous, exciting discoveries.
The Luck of the Shelves
Random book finds naturally lead to cumulative, historical adventures.
Tea and Gargoyles: A Bookshop and Church Tour
Regional bookshop tours epitomize a charming, essential English spirit.
II. On the Edge of the Uncanny
Books mentioned in the book:
Edward Shanks: The Enchanted Village (1933), The People of the Ruins (1920), Old King Cole (1936), Queer Street (1932).
John Cowper Powys: Wood & Stone, Rodmoor, After My Fashion (written 1919, published 1980), Ducdame (1925), Wolf Solent (1929), A Glastonbury Romance (1933), Weymouth Sands (1934), Maiden Castle (1936).
Dorothy Richardson: Pilgrimage sequence.
Mrs. Baillie Reynolds (Gertrude Robins): The Spell of Sarnia (1925).
Margaret Murray: The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921).
Sir Edgar Macculloch: Guernsey Folklore (1903).
David Lindsay: Sphinx (1923), The Violet Apple (published 1976), Devil’s Tor (1932).
Mary Butts: Ashe of Rings (1925).
Christopher Haddon: Under the Long Barrow (1939).
Anne Stretton (Giola Vivian Outram): Camilla (1934), Proposal (1935).
Herbert Asquith: Wind’s End (1924), Young Orland (1927), Roon (1929), Mary Dallon (1932).
Robert Graves and Alan Hodge: The Long Week-End, A Social History of Great Britain 1918-1939 (1940).
The Witchery of Gladys Mitchell
Gladys Mitchell: The Saltmarsh Murders (1932). T.E. Lawrence: Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
The Imaginary Bookshelf
Frederick Rolfe (Baron Corvo): Stories Toto Told Me (1898), In His Own Image (1901), Chronicles of the House of Borgia (1901), The Rubaiìyaìt of Umar Khaiyaìm (1924), The Songs of Meleager (1937), Hadrian the Seventh (1904), Don Tarquinio (1905), Reviews of Unwritten Books (1985).
Henry Harland: The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box (1900).
Patrick Carleton: Desirable Young Men (1932).
Ronald Firbank: Vainglory (1915).
A.N.L. Munby: The Alabaster Hand and Other Ghost Stories (1949).
John Gloag: Various 1930s satires.
Dreaming Over Book Titles with Lord Dunsany
Walter de la Mare: On the Edge (1930).
Lord Dunsany: The Gods of Pegāna.
Radio Ghosts
Horton Giddy: Off Finisterre (1936).
Ernest Randolph Reynolds: Candlemas Night (1955).
Glyn Daniel (Editor): Myth or Legend? (1955).
The Shadow of Enoch Soames
Max Beerbohm: Fungoids (fictional), Negations (fictional).
An Archimandrite to Tea
Barbara Pym: Some Tame Gazelle (1950), Excellent Women (1952).
Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History.
Gingerbread for the Fisher King
Phyllis Crawford: In England Still (1938).
Maurice Beresford: The Lost Villages of England (1954).
G.W. Eve: Decorative Heraldry (1908).
The Luck of the Shelves
R. Austin Freeman: The Stoneware Monkey (1938).
Paul Ashdown: The Lord Was at Glastonbury (2010).
Beatrice Mary Hamilton Thompson: Glastonbury: Truth and Fiction (1939).
Cyril Comyn Dobson: The Story of the Empty Tomb (1920), The Mystery of the Fate of the Ark of the Covenant (1939).
Lilian Randall (Scribe): A Personal Narrative by Joseph of Arimathaea (1940).
E.F. Benson: The Luck of the Vails (1901).
Charles Beard: Lucks and Talismans (1934).
Tea and Gargoyles: A Bookshop and Church Tour
Mary Essex (Ursula Bloom): Six Fools and a Fairy.
Michael Carroll: From a Persian Tea-House.
Alfred Duggan: Elephants and Castle (1963).
Edmund Crispin: Holy Disorders (1945).
Laurence Meynell: The House in the Hills (1937).
Richard Strachey: The Villa Mistral (1948).
Hubert Butler: The Invaders Wore Slippers.
Alfredo Marcantonio: Prophets of Zoom.
Esoteric Journals of the 1970s
Marian Green (Editor): Quest.
Mike Howard (Founder): The Cauldron.
Conclusion
Mark Valentine's championing of forgotten, unknown, and never-known books and papers brought magic into my life again as a reader.
His latest collection, Tea and Gargoyles, continues this tradition, celebrating "old new" titles that dwell in dusty corners of history.
Valentine’s prose serves as a beacon for those who find magic in a forgotten spine or a faded pamphlet.
Below is a survey of some of the articles collected in tea and gargoyles.
On the Edge of the Uncanny
Subtle atmosphere in fiction often surpasses overt supernatural plot devices.
The Witchery of Gladys Mitchell
Traditional folk rituals provide vivid, authentic foundations for mystery narratives.
The Rise of the Metaphysical Thriller Philosophical inquiries into time and reality elevate standard thriller formats.
The Predictable and the Unpredictable in Robert Aickman’s Strange Stories
Melancholic symbols transform traditional ghost stories into rich, meaningful art.
Poets, Lovers and Loners: The Wind Blows Over by Walter de la Mare
Character studies capture pivotal life moments without needing supernatural elements.
‘That Other Reality’: Some Early Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
Precise observations of light and shadow reveal hidden emotional realities.
The Imaginary Bookshelf
Invented literary titles in fiction spark deep readerly curiosity.
Dreaming Over Book Titles with Lord Dunsany
Titles themselves can evoke profound, dreamlike worlds of imagination.
A Book in Old Scarlet
Bodkin and Eden’s A Guide to Caper Eccentric, bookish zest enlivens even the most whimsical literary mysteries.
The Golden Bestiary: Some Seventeenth-Century Booksellers’ Signs Historical trade cards offer fascinating glimpses into early commercial life.
Radio Ghosts
Scholarly wireless talks prepared audiences for modern epic fantasy literature.
A Forgotten Edwardian Nonsense Poet: Norman Boothroyd
Nonsense verse effectively captures the peculiar logic of human dreams.
Dreams at Dusk: Light and Twilight by Edward Thomas
Nature sketches quietly
encompass the spiritual and the unseen world.
The Shadow of Enoch Soames
Literary phantoms haunt the boundaries between living and dead history.
‘The Terrific-Strange’: Some Student Poets of 1965
Youthful poetry adroitly observes the intersection of landscape and identity.
An Archimandrite to Tea
Unexpected literary encounters reveal charming, forgotten social and religious histories.
Bishop’s Move: Victor L Whitechurch’s The Bishop Out of Residence
Conventional plots gain depth through idiosyncratic and sharp character writing.
Gingerbread for the Fisher King Local myths and legends provide a resonant context for literature.
Some Old Books on Travelling Fairs; with an Allingham Aside Historical fairs represent a vanished era of seasonal public revelry.
The Twelve Stations: Blind John Brown, Forgotten Victorian Prophet and Geomancer Forgotten prophets link local topography to broader mystical traditions.
Esoteric Journals of the 1970s Specialized periodicals preserve unique cultural and spiritual counter-movements.
‘Steeped in Antiquity and Fantasy’
Some Esoteric 1970s Music Experimental music can evoke ancient, fantastic, and otherworldly atmospheres.
The Sideways Lands
Unfamiliar settings allow authors to explore unusual historic resonances.
A Drift in Eden
Train journeys into remote country heighten the sense of mystery.
Sixpence for the Weathercock
Small, rural details often hide significant, ancient cultural secrets.
The Sun and the Moon and the Ring-Tailed Lemur
Shared dream imagery reveals spiritual connections beyond the physical world.
The Bookshop Detectives
Amateur investigation into obscure books leads to dangerous, exciting discoveries.
The Luck of the Shelves
Random book finds naturally lead to cumulative, historical adventures.
Tea and Gargoyles: A Bookshop and Church Tour
Regional bookshop tours epitomize a charming, essential English spirit.
II. On the Edge of the Uncanny
Books mentioned in the book:
Edward Shanks: The Enchanted Village (1933), The People of the Ruins (1920), Old King Cole (1936), Queer Street (1932).
John Cowper Powys: Wood & Stone, Rodmoor, After My Fashion (written 1919, published 1980), Ducdame (1925), Wolf Solent (1929), A Glastonbury Romance (1933), Weymouth Sands (1934), Maiden Castle (1936).
Dorothy Richardson: Pilgrimage sequence.
Mrs. Baillie Reynolds (Gertrude Robins): The Spell of Sarnia (1925).
Margaret Murray: The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921).
Sir Edgar Macculloch: Guernsey Folklore (1903).
David Lindsay: Sphinx (1923), The Violet Apple (published 1976), Devil’s Tor (1932).
Mary Butts: Ashe of Rings (1925).
Christopher Haddon: Under the Long Barrow (1939).
Anne Stretton (Giola Vivian Outram): Camilla (1934), Proposal (1935).
Herbert Asquith: Wind’s End (1924), Young Orland (1927), Roon (1929), Mary Dallon (1932).
Robert Graves and Alan Hodge: The Long Week-End, A Social History of Great Britain 1918-1939 (1940).
The Witchery of Gladys Mitchell
Gladys Mitchell: The Saltmarsh Murders (1932). T.E. Lawrence: Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
The Imaginary Bookshelf
Frederick Rolfe (Baron Corvo): Stories Toto Told Me (1898), In His Own Image (1901), Chronicles of the House of Borgia (1901), The Rubaiìyaìt of Umar Khaiyaìm (1924), The Songs of Meleager (1937), Hadrian the Seventh (1904), Don Tarquinio (1905), Reviews of Unwritten Books (1985).
Henry Harland: The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box (1900).
Patrick Carleton: Desirable Young Men (1932).
Ronald Firbank: Vainglory (1915).
A.N.L. Munby: The Alabaster Hand and Other Ghost Stories (1949).
John Gloag: Various 1930s satires.
Dreaming Over Book Titles with Lord Dunsany
Walter de la Mare: On the Edge (1930).
Lord Dunsany: The Gods of Pegāna.
Radio Ghosts
Horton Giddy: Off Finisterre (1936).
Ernest Randolph Reynolds: Candlemas Night (1955).
Glyn Daniel (Editor): Myth or Legend? (1955).
The Shadow of Enoch Soames
Max Beerbohm: Fungoids (fictional), Negations (fictional).
An Archimandrite to Tea
Barbara Pym: Some Tame Gazelle (1950), Excellent Women (1952).
Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History.
Gingerbread for the Fisher King
Phyllis Crawford: In England Still (1938).
Maurice Beresford: The Lost Villages of England (1954).
G.W. Eve: Decorative Heraldry (1908).
The Luck of the Shelves
R. Austin Freeman: The Stoneware Monkey (1938).
Paul Ashdown: The Lord Was at Glastonbury (2010).
Beatrice Mary Hamilton Thompson: Glastonbury: Truth and Fiction (1939).
Cyril Comyn Dobson: The Story of the Empty Tomb (1920), The Mystery of the Fate of the Ark of the Covenant (1939).
Lilian Randall (Scribe): A Personal Narrative by Joseph of Arimathaea (1940).
E.F. Benson: The Luck of the Vails (1901).
Charles Beard: Lucks and Talismans (1934).
Tea and Gargoyles: A Bookshop and Church Tour
Mary Essex (Ursula Bloom): Six Fools and a Fairy.
Michael Carroll: From a Persian Tea-House.
Alfred Duggan: Elephants and Castle (1963).
Edmund Crispin: Holy Disorders (1945).
Laurence Meynell: The House in the Hills (1937).
Richard Strachey: The Villa Mistral (1948).
Hubert Butler: The Invaders Wore Slippers.
Alfredo Marcantonio: Prophets of Zoom.
Esoteric Journals of the 1970s
Marian Green (Editor): Quest.
Mike Howard (Founder): The Cauldron.
Conclusion
Mark Valentine's championing of forgotten, unknown, and never-known books and papers brought magic into my life again as a reader.
May 28, 2026
Valentine, Mark - Tea And Gargoyles
Gathering a good twenty essays, this collection may prove hit and miss for a few.
Some of the chapters lead to frustration. Several books intrigued me highly: “Saraband For Conquerors”, “Conor Sand” and “Bachelor’s Knap”. Finding copies, however, is well nigh impossible.
Other times, while Valentine is passionate and persuasive, a few chosen topics simply do not interest me.
“Poets, Lovers And Loners” explores later, often overlooked works by Walter de la Mare. This will appeal to those who desire a deeper dive into de la Mare, beyond greatest hits anthologies.
There is a brief appreciation of Barbara Pym, who has been popular Stateside, followed by Valentine taking a stab at writing a story in her flavor. This excited Zelda, who has all her novels, and who decided to place a few in her optimistic “to read” queue.
“Some Old Books On Travelling Fairs” pleads the case for battered veterans, so often spied on back shelves of used bookshops, or in cardboard boxes under tables at church or library fairs. Readers who only want NEW books are missing out, denying themselves.
Several music groups are referenced in “Steeped In Antiquity And Fantasy”. These are 1970’s bands that, forgive me, fall into the Folk-Psychedelic bracket. A bakers dozen are listed, but Zelda, keenly into a few female fronted bands, asked me to add some lesser known. So, aside from Trees and Jade, look for Illusion (Jane Relf, Keith’s sister), Trader Horn, Vashti Bunyan, and Mellow Candle (Irish, but please).
“The Bookshop Detectives” argues against the complaint that bookshops are disappearing. Near the conclusion, Valentine provides a marvelous paragraph on what constitutes a good bookshop, which he has given me permission to quote –
“Now to be perfectly fair to lamenting book-collectors, I think they usually have in mind a certain sort of bookshop, variously described as ‘traditional’, ‘old-fashioned’, ‘classic’, ‘proper’ or ‘real’. These will typically be privately-owned, by a solo proprietor or a duo, in or not far from the high street, and with several rooms of general stock, mostly vintage and mostly hardback. Optional extras include piles of books on the floor, a wireless softly playing classical music, cool jazz or cricket commentary, a cat, some comfortable seats, a cellar or attic, and creaking stairs. These represent the Golden Age of the Second-Hand Bookshop. But when was it? The answer of course is that it was in the book-collector’s youth or their university days, or at most the decade or so following. Girls, boys, film, music, were all much better then too.”
So say we all.
A late jaunt with “The Luck Of The Shelves” will ring with the hopeful. Mark excels here, as we tag along from Shropshire to Radnor, venturing into several shops, searching out rumored addresses, checking out places that MIGHT have shelves. One never knows, ride with Luck when she smiles. Besides, there could be a friendly feline, or a hot cup of Lapsang. His joy of the hunt is infectious. So come along, leave your chair, prowl the shops, shelves packed top to bottom.
Gathering a good twenty essays, this collection may prove hit and miss for a few.
Some of the chapters lead to frustration. Several books intrigued me highly: “Saraband For Conquerors”, “Conor Sand” and “Bachelor’s Knap”. Finding copies, however, is well nigh impossible.
Other times, while Valentine is passionate and persuasive, a few chosen topics simply do not interest me.
“Poets, Lovers And Loners” explores later, often overlooked works by Walter de la Mare. This will appeal to those who desire a deeper dive into de la Mare, beyond greatest hits anthologies.
There is a brief appreciation of Barbara Pym, who has been popular Stateside, followed by Valentine taking a stab at writing a story in her flavor. This excited Zelda, who has all her novels, and who decided to place a few in her optimistic “to read” queue.
“Some Old Books On Travelling Fairs” pleads the case for battered veterans, so often spied on back shelves of used bookshops, or in cardboard boxes under tables at church or library fairs. Readers who only want NEW books are missing out, denying themselves.
Several music groups are referenced in “Steeped In Antiquity And Fantasy”. These are 1970’s bands that, forgive me, fall into the Folk-Psychedelic bracket. A bakers dozen are listed, but Zelda, keenly into a few female fronted bands, asked me to add some lesser known. So, aside from Trees and Jade, look for Illusion (Jane Relf, Keith’s sister), Trader Horn, Vashti Bunyan, and Mellow Candle (Irish, but please).
“The Bookshop Detectives” argues against the complaint that bookshops are disappearing. Near the conclusion, Valentine provides a marvelous paragraph on what constitutes a good bookshop, which he has given me permission to quote –
“Now to be perfectly fair to lamenting book-collectors, I think they usually have in mind a certain sort of bookshop, variously described as ‘traditional’, ‘old-fashioned’, ‘classic’, ‘proper’ or ‘real’. These will typically be privately-owned, by a solo proprietor or a duo, in or not far from the high street, and with several rooms of general stock, mostly vintage and mostly hardback. Optional extras include piles of books on the floor, a wireless softly playing classical music, cool jazz or cricket commentary, a cat, some comfortable seats, a cellar or attic, and creaking stairs. These represent the Golden Age of the Second-Hand Bookshop. But when was it? The answer of course is that it was in the book-collector’s youth or their university days, or at most the decade or so following. Girls, boys, film, music, were all much better then too.”
So say we all.
A late jaunt with “The Luck Of The Shelves” will ring with the hopeful. Mark excels here, as we tag along from Shropshire to Radnor, venturing into several shops, searching out rumored addresses, checking out places that MIGHT have shelves. One never knows, ride with Luck when she smiles. Besides, there could be a friendly feline, or a hot cup of Lapsang. His joy of the hunt is infectious. So come along, leave your chair, prowl the shops, shelves packed top to bottom.
August 12, 2026
This is the most engrossing book of literary criticism I’ve read. Mark’s enthusiasm is infectious and he has a peerless knowledge of English literature particularly that which has been neglected. What also comes through in his writing is an England that would be easily overlooked by outsiders, or the majority of us who aren’t of a particularly sensitive disposition. The book recommendations found here are invaluable, I’ve yet to be disappointed with any book Mark has promoted. I am always on the lookout for more poets of the nineties and I can credit him with bringing at least five to my attention! Brilliant work sir.
July 16, 2026
A wonderful collection for anyone who loves books, forgotten authors, and the quiet magic of literary discovery. Mark Valentine has a way of making even the most obscure topics feel fascinating, and every essay is filled with genuine passion and curiosity. I especially enjoyed how the book celebrates old bookshops, hidden literary treasures, and the sense of wonder that comes with exploring the unknown. It made me want to add countless books to my reading list. If you enjoy thoughtful, atmospheric writing about literature and the joy of reading, this is definitely worth picking up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews