12 of the UK’s best independent bookshops, chosen by readers

From old tales to new thinking, gardening to science fiction, our tipsters find literary nourishment – and cake, too – at these indie booksellers

Scarthin Books in Cromford, Derbyshire, is a tall, thin bookcase of a building. Its many rooms, stacked one on top of the other, have new books, old books and every sort of reading matter in its nooks and higgledy-piggledy crannies. You can lose yourself for hours. Rest, revive and continue after a break in its cosy reading room. Try a homemade cake in the cafe upstairs (when Covid rules allow) or, for food for thought, attend a talk in its Café Philosophique. And whether you need it or not, take a peek in the authentic Victorian bathroom with literary memorabilia-lined walls.
Gayle Wood