Here's to me having the energy to do a Top Ten Tuesday this week! Finally! I enjoyed last week's topic, plus I've visited a few of the same bookish places as Jana, so I'm using her list to jumpstart mine. 😊
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| Me at the State Library of Victoria in 2025 |
- Shakespeare & Company Bookstore in Paris, France--This was one of the highest on my to-do list when I was in Paris. I wasn't able to buy a book as I was a poor student backpacker (space being actually more of an issue than money) but I'm so glad I went! To me, it makes me think of Sylvia Beach, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas plus Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Joyce--all the Lost Generation in Paris, especially back when I idealized that more than I do now.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City--Kid me was not very interested in museums but I always wanted to see the Met because of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, and I'm so glad I did that--I definitely imagined Claudia and Jamie hiding in the bathrooms and sleeping in the beds!
- Ernest Hemingway's house in Key West, Florida--I'm not the hugest Hemingway fan but I've read a few of his books, and his house was quite interesting, especially all the cats strolling and lounging about, many with six or seven toes, the toilet in the garden, and his writing shed.
- The Alcott House in Concord, Massachusetts--Not only did Louisa May Alcott and her family live here, but it's explicitly the house where Little Women is set, from Jo's writing desk (modeled on Louisa's) to the room where they performed their plays to Lou's little sister May's drawings on the walls. Plus the schoolhouse in the back where their parents taught.
- The Emily Dickinson House(s) in Amherst, Massachusetts--This is actually two houses, one that belonged to Emily's parents and later was used by Emily and her sister's family and the one across from it where her brother's family lived. An amazing amount of the houses are original, and the staff are incredibly knowledgeable about ALL aspects of Emily's life, poetry, and legend.
- The Globe Theatre in London, England--Since Shakespeare's plays were originally performed here, and maybe he wrote/improvised some here too, this counts as a bookish place to me.
- The British Library in London, England--I mostly remember a very old edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight on display. I 'd love to come back someday.
- The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.--I'm lucky to have lived nearby and gone a number of times, plus gotten my Reader's Card and done some research there!
- The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.--Likewise, lived nearby so attended a number of plays and exhibitions here, including seeing some of their Shakespeare first folios on display!
- The State Library Victoria in Melbourne, Australia--So glad I took the time to visit while I was there, a truly beautiful library and interesting collection, with a whole section on chess plus every new release you can think of, and I love that it's open to the public.
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