Book lovers and avid readers (hello!) and small independent bookshops searchers this post is for you. Thanks to Andy Kate. Take a quick look at her Instagram and you’ll immediately understand that books are part of her life. I met Andy Kate few years ago during an event. What struck me immediately about her is how a person so smart and full of interests was actually so young. She is only in her Twenties but Andy has already done so much that I compared to me in my college years I was still a little girl in a bell jar. And she has still a bright road in front of her to walk. Meanwhile, she tells us of her favorite bookstores today, between Italy and England. Enjoy the read (it was appropriate to say in this case!).

1 | Skoob Books, London

“A stone’s from St Pancras lies this second-hand books paradise. Once inside, if you climb down the stairs you’ll discover a huge old wooden furniture smelling room crammed with classics, modern literature, art and photography books, science and psychology books. Basically, books about everything. Every title is priced at half or less of what they would cost if bought new. Having a soft spot for Penguin Classics (which here are ordered by colour), I always end up buying a good bunch anytime I visit”.

Skoob Books: 66, The Brunswick, Marchmont St, London WC1N 1AE

2 | Gogol & Co., Milan

“Let’s face it, this is not a plain bookstore. This is a place for feeling good and sharing moments together. This is a cafeteria packed with books for you to know them, flip through their pages and fly far away. I come here alone or with a friend, and whether I’m reading or scribbling or chatting with Danilo and Tosca (top notch owners and booksellers) to me it always feels a bit like home. I’ve seen this place growing more popular and popular in the last few years and I couldn’t be any happier.”

Gogol & Co. via Savona 101, 20144 Milano

3 | The Crooked Books, Bournemouth

“Where do I start, I wonder. I could begin by telling you about the piano leaning against the wall on one side, eager to be played. So now you now they have a piano. What you don’t know is that the space is furnished with exquisite vintage bookcases, tea tables, chairs, flower pots. Posters of old foreign films are hanging on the wall. If you ask the young lady at the bar for a beer she will reply “Sorry, we don’t serve any alcohol here”. But that’s fine, you might be already drunk on poetry. (Here I purchased my first poetry book by Matthew Sweeney)”.

The Crooked Books, 725 Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth, Dorset BH7 6AQ

4 | Persephone Books, London

“If you ask them how it all started out, they’ll tell you they had a vision of a woman who comes home tired from work, and there is a book waiting for her, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like because she knows she will enjoy it. Home to “lost” or out-of-print books, this place is one of a kind. It’s both an independent bookstore and a publishing house. It was named after the Greek Goddess as a homage to female creativity, in fact most of the titles here were written by women”.

Persephone Books, 59 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB

5 | Verso Libri, Milan

“In spite of being opened only since last December, they’re already on the right track. What stroke me the most the first time I came by was the astonishing selection of independent Italian publishing houses they keep. I’ve never seen such a wide choice of fine titles all together before. They also hold almost an event every night including literature classes and meetings with writers. It goes without saying it took me very little to fall madly in love with this young yet special bookstore”.

Verso Libri, corso di Porta Ticinese, 40, 20123 Milano

All photos except Persephone Books via @andykate