The Book Lover's Bucket List: A Tour of Great British Literature

by Caroline Taggart, Tracy Chevalier (Foreword)

Exploring the gardens, monuments, museums, and churches with walks both urban and rural, from the Brontë parsonage in Haworth to Zadie Smith's North London and Shakespeare's Stratford,  The Book Lover's Bucket List  takes you through some 100 wonderfully described literary sites and landscapes, complete with color destination photographs and illustrations from the British Library collections.

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Books About Books, British Literature, History, Literature, London

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2021

About the author

I was an editor for 30 years before Michael O’Mara Books asked me to write what became I Used to Know That. I think its success took everyone by surprise – it certainly did me – but it led to my writing a lot of other books and finally, after about three years, feeling able to tell people I was an author. It's a nice feeling.

Until recently the book I was most proud of was The Book of London Place Names (Ebury), partly because I am passionate about London and partly because, having written ten or so books before that, I finally felt I was getting the hang of it.

Now I have to confess I’m really excited by my first venture into continuous narrative. For A Slice of Britain: around the country by cake (AA) I travelled the country investigating, writing about and eating cake. From Cornish Saffron Cake to Aberdeen Butteries, I interviewed about 25 people who are baking cakes, biscuits and buns that are unique to their region, part of their heritage – and pretty darned delicious. The Sunday Times reviewed it and described me as ‘engaging, greedy and droll’, which pleased me enormously.

Reviews

[Maggie McKneely · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Thebooktrail · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.)

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptionally well researched book. From the major literary spaces to the most minor of references. Complete with site visitation information, photos and cross references. This is one for the shelves. This would make a lovely gift too. The only negative-how little I know of British/Irish literature.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!).

[Ruthie Schmeichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had such good information about places with literary connections in the UK!! I don't know how my grandparents found this book, but it was so helpful and I'm definitely going to take it for reference and information when I travel to England and Scotland in November!!!

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I flicked through, just reading about the places I knew.
I was disappointed that the entry on Lamb House in Rye mentioned that Rumer Godden lived there too, but nothing else about this wonderful author.

[Dav Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coffee table book worth having if you’re interested in learning a little about places worth going to connect better with books.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice enough but the section on Wales is disappointing - 3 places?!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like to read about, dream about, or are lucky enough to travel to places where British authors lived, wrote, drank, died, whatever, read this lovely little book. Everyone from Jane Austen to Zadie Smith and all in between, and all over the UK. It's got me in planning mode for our next UK vacation!

Divided into quick bursts of information on each author, divided by regions all over England. It includes Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland as well.

[Claire Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Josephine Runci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually it's a 3.5 stars for me.I think the London and the Northern England sections were better curated than other sections.
Interesting book in general though.
Even if some parts were boring for me, I really enjoyed others that gave me some info and trivia about some authors.
A shame there were no maps. It would have been better, especially for less know spots.

[Lisa Goodmurphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Pam Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had had this book in 1977 when I was planning my literary tour of Britain. Fortunately I visited most of the most important ones and some not in this book. this book is a delight for someone who revels in British literature and loves to travel, if now only in memory.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very factual read about a tour of Great British literature by Caroline Taggart.
I did enjoy reading about some of author's quotes from their books used, but this is quite a dry read and it could've been more interesting if it been written in a slightly different way maybe .

[Jan Duthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have already visited some but it’s given me future destinations to look forward to.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Lisa of Hopewell]

I learned of this book via this post: https://messybaker.wordpress.com/2022...

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will be a great book to reference before trips to the United Kingdom.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and gave me ideas for the next visit!

[Candice Ryder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative and interesting, I will definitely be checking for literary walks everywhere from now on.

[Library of Dreaming (Bookstagram) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mini vacation to Great Britain but I would've preferred it to be a bit longer with more photos.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting sights, although skips around both authors & places a bit. Still added a lot to my list of places to visit though

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This offered up some fun bits of trivia, and had me adding a few places to my plans for future trips - so it did exactly as intended.