As my husband and I were strolling one windy Saturday afternoon in Stratford-Upon-Avon, a peculiar name of a book shop lured us to it. Chaucer Head indeed made us curious and tempted us in. You can easily judge from the outside that the building is quite old (as most buildings in Stratford are). But for me, first impressions don’t always last. At the entrance, you’ll immediately be greeted by two bookshelves filled with paperback and hard back fiction, a good impression already I must say.
I wanted to stay a bit longer among these two book shelves but something inside me stopped that thought and convinced me to carry on. The front room was fully stocked with classic literature, mainly in the shelves that are situated at the centre of the room. They have a corner for Folio Society books, which I think is a standard for most bookshops we visited here in the UK. As I was in this corner, I instantly fell in love with Michaelangelo’s Sonnets. It was a bit too early for me to decide what to buy because I have not browsed enough books yet, so I put it back to the shelf and told myself to decide about it later.
I soon noticed that my husband was not in the same room any more, as there were more rooms at the back end of the shop. I decided to hang around a bit in the front room, savouring all the classic literature books I wish I had. I was really impressed with the condition of the classic hard back books. They’re all very good and well-kept. Out of all the classics they have, the Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre ones really made me swoon, as these are my favourite classics of all time. It is just a pity I cannot afford them at the moment.
There were two more rooms full with books: the middle room and back room. I skipped browsing the middle, and proceeded to go to the back room first. This is where I found my husband huddled on the floor; he found his spot near the Military and History section. He said he was very impressed with the shop’s selection, especially on Naval History (ships and submarines), since in most book shops that we visited there were not a lot of literature about them. I was impressed that he actually decided to buy a book right away, because he is normally fussy on books and thinks about it twice before actually buying it. Well done habibi!
The back room consists of more varied topics and genres, so there’s more choices for people who are browsing: Children’s books, Military History, Transport, Theology, Philosophy, Antiques, Crafts, Science, Maths, Aviation, Foreign Language, Gardening, Music and Political Biography.
The middle room was quite a refreshing break. It houses mainly books about Nature, Topography, Travel, Country Life, Mountaineering and World Exploration. The way they have grouped these related topics in one room made this shop unique for me.
I didn’t find any book that caught my attention in the back room and middle room. So I went back to the front section of the shop and made more rounds between the shelves. When I entered the shop earlier, I didn’t notice right away there was a humour section near the door. I found two books here that I was actually interested in: “The Bookshop Book” by Jen Campbell, and “Long Overdue” by Alan Taylor. And it was my last minute decision to buy “The Sonnets of Michaelangelo”, knowing that I would regret it later if I did not take it home with me. My book choices vary from time to time, depending on the mood I’m in. One day I may be in the mood for a romance novel, next week I would be in the mood for some suspense/thriller. So when I browse around book shops, I tend to look for titles that interest me and I don’t usually stick to one genre. Although I like to keep my selections varied, I also tend to look for books to add to my poetry and erotic literature collection.
Before we left the shop, we had a lovely chat with the lady at the till (presumably one of the owners of the shop). As we bid farewell, I took one final glance (and a final shot from our camera). When my husband and I were discussing our bookscapade at home, we suddenly remembered that we forgot to ask why the book shop was named Chaucer Head as we were intrigued by its name earlier. Oh well, I guess we have another reason to visit this book shop again!
The Filipina Book Junkie 