Shhh! These beautiful reading spots are best enjoyed with no one for company but the inhabitants of your favourite fictional worlds…
Library of Birmingham Rising up from the city centre like gleaming, futuristic Lego blocks, the thoroughly modern exterior of the Library of Birmingham belies its traditional ethos—to provide visitors and locals alike with free education and entertainment. Not only is this library the largest public cultural space in Europe, but it also plays home to several levels of rooftop gardens. They're the perfect place to enjoy the wind in your hair—and the gentle flipping of pages—while taking a break from studying or sight-seeing.
In the year the library opened, 2.7 million visitors flooded through its doors, and the space remains the 11th most popular visitor attraction in the UK. Paying a visit yourself? Don’t miss the book rotunda, where you’ll find yourself surrounded by colourful bookshelves on all sides, a true bibliophile’s dream.
Says senior library services manager, David Stokes, “Surrounded by illuminated fountains, a pool and trees, the library offers a mixture of stunning architecture, unparalleled views from two garden terraces, the world-famous Shakespeare Room and free exhibitions.” birmingham.gov.uk/libraries
Women’s Library, Glasgow
Don’t be surprised if, just minutes after entering the Glasgow Women’s Library, you’re offered a cup of tea and a slice of cake—this might just be the friendliest little library in Britain.
A vast array of books on women’s issues throughout history line the shelves of the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements and a number of events across the year transform this library into a vibrant social hub, with creative writing classes, performance groups, craft sessions and more.
As well as books, the library is home to an array of artefacts including Suffragette memorabilia.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Reader's Digest September 2019 من Reader's Digest UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Reader's Digest September 2019 من Reader's Digest UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: TIPS TO WIN THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Do you want to save 1.5 seconds every day of your life? According to the dishwasher expert at the consumer organisation Choice, there’s no need to insert the dishwashing tablet into the compartment inside the door.
May Fiction
An escaped slave's perspective renews Huckleberry Finn and the seconds tick down to nuclear Armageddon in Miriam Sallon’s top literary picks this month
Wine Not
In a time of warning studies about alcohol consumption, Paola Westbeek looks at non-alcoholic wines, how they taste and if they pair with food
Train Booking Hacks
With the cost of train travel seemingly always rising, Andy Webb gives some tips to save on ticket prices
JOURNEY TO SALTEN, NORWAY, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Here, far from the crowds, in opal clarity, from May to September, the sun knows no rest. As soon as it’s about to set, it rises again
My Britain: Cheltenham
A YEAR IN CHELTENHAM sees a jazz festival, a science festival, a classical music festival and a literature festival. Few towns with 120,000 residents can boast such a huge cultural output!
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Suzi Grant
After working in TV and radio as an author and nutritionist, Suzi Grant started a blog alternativeageing.net) and an Instagram account alternativeageing). She talks to Ian Chaddock about positive ageing”
Sam Quek: If I Ruled The World
Sam Quek MBE is an Olympic gold medalwinning hockey player, team captain on A Question of Sport and host of podcast series Amazing Starts Here
Stand Tall, Ladies
Shorter men may be having their moment, but where are the tall women?
