Book Towns in The Irish Independent

Book Towns in the Daily Mail

Have you ever thought of going on a literary holiday, travelling to dedicated book towns? Well, you will now. Journalist and author Alex Johnson has written the world’s first directory of paradises of the printed world. Featuring 45 locations in 30 countries from France to Finland, New York to Norway, all illustrated with delightful photographs, there isn’t a place in here you won’t want to visit. A must-have for explorers and bookworms alike.

Daily Mail

Book Towns in The Guardian

Book towns started with Hay-on-Wye; now there are communities around the world that celebrate the written word. In this extract from a new book, the author picks 10 to leaf through – and visit.

Read the whole thing at The Guardian.

Book Towns interview in Forbes

There's an interview by Lois Alter Mark with me today in Forbes talking about the Book Town book. The whole thing is here but here's a snippet:

For readers, there’s nothing better than discovering a bookstore on vacation. Now imagine discovering an entire book town. Yes, book towns are a thing. They are, like they sound, towns filled with bookstores and book lovers and book-related activities. There are more of these than you think there are, and Alex Johnson celebrates them in Book Towns: Forty Five Paradises of the Printed Word. The book is a bibliophile’s dream. Johnson takes readers on an illustrated tour of the world’s most dedicated havens of literature, revealing their history, celebrating authors and booksellers and offering travel tips. In honor of World Book Day, I talked to Johnson about book towns and his own book. You may want to start booking a trip.

Book Towns book published today in the UK

Book towns are a reader’s ultimate getaway destination. From Hay-on-Wye in Wales to Urueña in Spain, Fjaerland in Norway to Jimbochu in Japan, around 40 semi-official book towns now exist around the world. But until now, there has been no complete directory of their location, history and charm. Book Towns takes readers on a richly illustrated tour of these captivating, dedicated havens of literature, outlining the origins and development of each community, and offering practical travel advice. Explore bustling book markets in Kolkata and Buenos Aires, and pop-up shops in old churches, ferry waiting rooms and stables. A stylish and original guide, it is the perfect gift for both book lovers and travel enthusiasts.

Already published in the USA, published today in the UK.

Book Towns book published today

Book towns are a reader’s ultimate getaway destination. From Hay-on-Wye in Wales to Urueña in Spain, Fjaerland in Norway to Jimbochu in Japan, around 40 semi-official book towns now exist around the world. But until now, there has been no complete directory of their location, history and charm. Book Towns takes readers on a richly illustrated tour of these captivating, dedicated havens of literature, outlining the origins and development of each community, and offering practical travel advice. Explore bustling book markets in Kolkata and Buenos Aires, and pop-up shops in old churches, ferry waiting rooms and stables. A stylish and original guide, it is the perfect gift for both book lovers and travel enthusiasts.
Published today in the USA, published on April 5 in the UK.

Book Towns Are Made for Book Lovers

What makes a book town?
 

It can’t be too big—not a city, but a genuine town, usually in a rural setting. It has to have bookshops—not one or two, but a real concentration, where a bibliophile might spend hours, even days, browsing. Usually a book town begins with a couple of secondhand bookstores and later grows to offer new books, too.

But mostly, they have a lot of books for sale.

Hobart, New York, is a perfect example of how having one bookstore in a small town is nice, but having many bookstores together makes a place special—a destination. Since the 1970s, book towns like it have been springing up all over the world. There are now dozens of them, from Australia and Finland to India and South Korea.

In the forthcoming Book Towns, journalist Alex Johnson catalogues these most charming of tourist destinations. He spoke to Atlas Obscura about the pleasures of out-of-the-way places defined by their books.

More at Atlas Obscura