Like bar-hopping, but for browsing books: this trend, popularised on TikTok, makes for a great day out – and can help you discover unique literary spots
W
e’ve all heard of bar crawls, but what about a bookshop crawl? The premise is essentially the same – you hop from venue to venue – but instead of drinking beers you browse books. Having begun as a trend among TikTok users, mainly in the US, the idea has begun to be adopted across the globe.
But mostly, bookshop crawls are much more casual affairs, with groups of friends or individuals using them as a way to explore a city and find their new favourite bookish spot. In this spirit, on a recent trip to London, I decided to take myself on a solo crawl. First, I checked out New Beacon Books in Finsbury Park, which is the longest running Black-owned bookstore in the UK, then went to Camden Town Bookshop and Primrose Hill Books. I loved exploring different parts of London and was able to pick up not only newer books that were on my to-read list but also older editions of childhood favourites – such as Jacqueline Wilson’s The Illustrated Mum, which I picked up in an Oxfam in Bloomsbury for about £2. It felt like a real treat to spend a full day drinking iced coffee and browsing bookshops – and definitely something I’ll be doing in future when I visit a new city.
