Browse in these fine Bath Bookshops

Topping & Company is the newest Bath bookshop,an independent appropriately situated at the top end of town in The Paragon (above Broad Street). Plastic-wrapped books are piled on tables as well as along the walls, in Waterstones fashion, but there are no 3 for 2 offers on heaps of novels here. Instead you'll find useful newspaper cuttings pinned on noticeboards to provide inspiration to browsers, and stools set around smaller tables where you can sit and read while being plied with free tea and coffee. The shop organises an astonishing programme of events with big-name authors, but tickets are not cheap and may include a copy of the book - hardback, of course.

Are you a lover of stationery? If you are, you will understand the simple but deep pleasure of Mayther, at the bottom of Milsom Street. Here you can find classy greetings cards, wrapping paper, art postcards, thick writing paper and matching envelopes. On the tables in the centre of the shop are displayed a carefully-chosen and very tempting selection of books and notebooks. You could come in for a card and end up spending much more than you bargained for!

Apologies to Alan Bennett but as a book-lover I have to admit to a shameful feeling of well-being when visiting Waterstones, not surprisingly the largest of Bath bookshops. Something about being amongst 3 storeys of lovely new, smooth, glossy books gives me the same pleasure as a well-stocked pantry or a full tank of petrol. Maybe something to do with the feeling it engenders of endless possibilities. Perhaps Mr Bennett will forgive me if I just browse and don’t buy. The café here used to be one of my favourites but now has been taken over by the ubiquitous Costa.

Just down the road and round the corner is the splendidly-named Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, a light and airy space with wooden floorboards and a claw-footed bath to display stock! The books here are hand-picked by the three proprietors who each month feature books, film and music from the Country of the Month and books by the Independent Publisher of the Month. Visit their website to buy online, sign up for the monthly newsletter and read Mr B’s blog in the Guardian paper’s online books section.

Woods the stationers in Old Bond Street is a good source of everyday stationery supplies - all kinds of paper, envelopes, folders, files, and bits and pieces for the office. Also Filofaxes, pens and cards.

The second-hand bookstall in the Guildhall Market is a bountiful and cheap source of many categories of paperback fiction and some non-fiction. Ask the helpful staff if you are after something in particular, as amazingly they will be able to locate it quickly among the many piles of stock. Even better, uniquely among Bath bookshops, if you are not a compulsive hoarder of every book you ever bought, you can sell your used paperbacks here. It is rare that I ever depart with all my cash booty intact – I usually end up handing some of it back for yet another must-read!

The Oxfam Bookshop in Lower Borough Walls sells donated fiction and non-fiction books, both hardback and paperback, also records (remember albums?) and DVDs.

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