Beautiful Bookshops: The Reader

The Reader Bookshop has become my favourite spot this summer. I'm actually gutted I don't live closer, because I would be there every day.

• Vibe: Cosy, modern and cool

• Coffee shop: Yes

• Child friendly: Yes

• Dedicated romance section: No

• Order online: Yes, via Bookshop.org

• Address: Calderstones Mansion House, Calderstones Park, Calderstones Road, Liverpool L18 3JB

SETTING

Sitting at the back of a manor house, in the middle of Calderstones Park in Liverpool, this little dream even has a coffee shop and a walled garden at the back. As if the gorgeous park around it wasn't enough!

QUICK FACTS

This bookstore is actually part of a bigger charity - The International Centre for Shared Reading, also known as The Reader, which works to encourage reading and writing in group, as a way to share experiences through stories. Their Shared Reading meetings take place at its HQ at Calderstones Park as well as in hospitals, churches, prisons, care homes, libraries and all sort of places. Their aim is to connect people and rebuilding community in a bit to tackle mental health and other social issues like loneliness. Isn't it beautiful?

All profits from the bookshop, events and other activities at Calderstones Park also go to The Reader's Shared Reading programmes, to make these groups available to all ages for free.

BOOKSHELVES

Compared to other bookshops I have visited, this is a fairly small outfit, so its offering in terms of genre is limited. It also tends to lean towards the classics, literary fiction, books that turned into movies, the natural world, and the human experience. You, unfortunately, won't find many of the big romance names in here.

FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN

The bookshop itself has a children's section, but the real jewel in The Reader's crown for children is The Storybarn, a short walk away inside the same park. Believe me when I say that it looks like something out of Peter Pan.

Last time I visited, I had the pleasure of meeting Noble Snail, a lady with the very cool title of Story Hunter. One of several Story Hunters whose job it is to find your child a book that resonates with them and their interests. Each Story Hunter gets to choose their own work name. Noble Snail is called so because she rescued the Queen of Snails in the park and was subsequently knighted by her.

There is also a beautiful playground just outside the barn and an ice-cream parlour! It made me wish I was a child again. If you have young children, you're missing a trick if you haven't visited The Storybarn yet.

EVENT CALENDAR

And of course, as any cultural charity and bookshop, The Reader offers a full calendar of events including family fun, cinema and theatre.

This is a bookstore in the middle of a park with a heart of gold. If you go out of your way to visit a bookshop this year, make it this one.