Is charging an entry fee an innovative way of keeping Porto’s historical Livraria Lello bookshop open? Is it really connected to a mission to get the world into books? Or is the store — as many suggest in internet reviews — simply a money-grabbing, overcrowded tourist trap? It’s easy to agree with that last point when one encounters the selfie brigade, whose eyes never stray from their phones and whose sole interest in the books on display is as a backdrop for their posts on

On a trip to London recently to visit the Charles Dickens Museum, a friend advised me to call into Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street. Good advice it was too: it is a glorious space, boasting impressive oak galleries, elegant skylights, and a thoughtfully curated range of books.

Angry beyond belief as it dawned on me that I’d been duped into buying an AI knock-off, I broke a lifetime vow and sent Amazon a review