Still Life With Robin: Escape to the Land of Books

Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri (Creative Commons)

by Peggy Robin

August is the time most of us are looking to take a good book on vacation. Why not take a vacation to one of the best reading spots in the world? Here's a fantastic list of 14 of the most spectacular libraries ever built. 

http://weburbanist.com/2011/08/26/reading-revolution-14-marvelous-modern-libraries/

If you prefer your books in a more traditional library setting, then set your sights on one of these 13 historic library destinations:
http://weburbanist.com/2011/08/22/bountiful-books-13-incredibly-intricate-historic-libraries/

It might make an even better vacation to stay in a hotel with its own beautiful reading room. Here's a list of the world's top 10 hotel libraries:

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/10-hotels-library-lovers/story?id=16938613#10

On the other hand, you might prefer to travel to a place that doesn't ask you to return the book when you're done with it. In that case, choose as your destination one of the 21 most beautiful bookstores in the world:

http://flavorwire.com/254434/the-20-most-beautiful-bookstores-in-the-world

Many book lovers care less about the beauty of the place than the quantity and quality of the books within, and if that's your goal, then travel to a city that is home to one of the best independent bookstores in America:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-bookstores (You won't have to go far to visit #4 on the list: It's our own Politics & Prose in Forest Hills.)

Once you are back from vacation, you'll need some bookshelves to store all those books you've bought. Here are a few creative ideas for shelving:

http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-bookshelves/

As for what to put on those shelves -- the 100 must-have works of fiction, critics say, are these:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction

And now, finally, the perfect thing for the book-loving woman to wear -- a dress made entirely out of book pages:

http://themetapicture.com/a-dress-made-entirely-out-of-books/

Happy reading, everyone!

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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv, www.cleveland-park.com, and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.