Hello! This is kind of a special tribute to you artists. So one of my favorite towns in England is Keswick, home of the Cumberland Pencil Museum. Cumbria is the district where graphite was first discovered 350 years ago. Through words, pictures and carefully restored machinery, the museum traces the history of pencil making. This town is also where the famous Derwent Fine Art Pencils are made today. It's surprisingly interesting! Incidentally, it's also the home of Beatrix Potter, better known as the author of Peter Rabbit stories. Oh my goodness, for such a small town, there were a surprisingly awesome amount of bookshops! I mentioned the Cumberland Pencil Museum because they have a fabulous selection of art books and Beatrix Potter series. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure my favorite part of the Peter Rabbit stories are the illustrations. They are gorgeous!

So, back to the bookshops in Keswick... there are several there, but two that I really liked were called Henry Wilson Books, on Main Street. It was a fabulous mix of old and new. Here's the thing: this particular shop doesn't focus on fiction. They have a lot of military and social history books, as well as a large section of transport and industrial history (including subjects like the railroads, aviation, and so forth).  So it's a definite must if you're looking for those specific topics. It isn't as though there is no fiction section. I found Harry Potter there, which I almost bought just because I was in the mood to read it that day. Luckily, I'm not too bad of an impulse buyer. Here's the link for more information!

I want a library someday... wouldn't mind if it looked like this.

The second bookshop I really liked was called, simply, the The Old Bookshop, over on Market Street. I was drawn to this store because, first, the sign was adorable, and because I can't resist the words "book" and "shop." The place is somewhat of a hotspot for local and national authors, who often do book signings there. They have an enormous stock of new and antiquarian maps, documents, and of course, books. They did seem to be a bit more well established, even garnering attention in travel magazines and being featured in the national press. They're website has a great Search function, which is always nice if you know what you're looking for. As always, here's their website! All in all, this was probably one of my favorite towns we went to, and I think it was because there were so many fun shops (the best being the bookstores, of course... and that candy store...)

See! Great sign! Am I right?