‘Havens of escapism’: Enjoy a literary journey on the Bookshop Crawl

For Bex and Rhys Hughes, nothing beats the joy of finding a good book – so they set up a pub crawl-style event for readers, writes David Barnett. Alcohol not included

‘A town with a bookshop filled to the brim offers a world of potential adventures and is a truly wonderful place,’ Rhys Hughes, co-founder of Bookshop Crawl (Bex and Rhys Hughes)

Neil Gaiman, in his novel American Gods, wrote: “What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.”

For Rhys Hughes, that quote underpins the entire ethos of an event, now in its eighth year, across London this weekend: the Bookshop Crawl.

What is a Bookshop Crawl? Well, think of a pub crawl... but with bookshops (and no alcohol).