Try reading somewhere different

The Mitchell library

Now that school exams are over (so no more teenagers with crisp packets), a good reading place is the Mitchell Library. It’s big, with a cafe and a feeling of being a civic space, which one can fetishise if so inclined. When I go, I head to the literature section on the top floor – it has good desks, reflective and austere-looking people, and endless distraction in the form of collections of Russian short stories.

The Necropolis

If you’re tired of people, you could try visiting the dead. Glasgow’s city of the dead is undoubtedly a far better place to read a book than this alienating world. Glasgow’s Necropolis is a victorian cemetery, on a hill about 15 minutes walk from Queen St station. At the top you can join John Knox in appreciating a good view of Glasgow, and reflect on the sentiment inscribed on his statue:

The Reformation produced a revolution in the sentiment of mankind the greatest as well as the most beneficial that has happened since the publication of Christianity.

If you wish to contribute to the Scottish economy you should bear in mind that it is beneficial if tourists believe Scots are muttering, queer creatures who read in graveyards.

Your favourite cafe

Probably the best cafe I’ve found is the Naked Soup Coffee House on Kersland St. It’s handily close to Glasgow University if you’re a student, does cheap and good food and coffee, and has papers. You can sit outside in the unlikely event of good weather, and inside it’s warm and friendly. You also get caramel shortbread with your coffee (I admit, this is the main attraction). The 78 gets second place in the hierarchy of cafe’s-for-reading-in – comfortable, spacious, and obviously open much later…

I would say “Join me!”, but actually, do partake of the above activities alone.