Topping & Company
The Paragon Bath BA1 5LS
As much a community book club as a retail outlet, this friendly store stocks over 30,000 titles, from Douglas Adams to Emile Zola. The layout encourages casual browsing, as do the long opening hours, and there’s free tea and coffee on hand. The busy calendar of weekly author events gives as much time to local writers as it does national literary figures (Rose Tremain, Will Self, Stephen Fry).