Yale University

Start your literary escapades in New Haven.  Yale University offers free public tours that include stops at the colossal Gothic Sterling Memorial Library and the   Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, home to the to the Gutenberg Bible and other rare materials.

Enjoy sweet treats and a great book selection at New Haven’s Atticus Bookstore & Café. A favorite Yale hangout, this Chapel Street mainstay delivers on prose and pastries.
 

R.J. Julia

Head to R.J. Julia in Madison. Founded in 1989, this massively popular independent bookstore hosts more than 200 events a year. Authors from Garrison Keillor to Wally Lamb (a Connecticut resident) have conducted public readings. Additionally, owner Roxanne Coady is a frequent guest on the “Faith Middleton Show” on WNPR, Connecticut’s Public Radio station. Works hailed on Middleton’s twice-monthly book show are listed on www.rjjulia.com.

Find an intimate place for dinner, such as Café Allegra in Madison, and stay overnight at an area B&B, inn or hotel.

Main streets of Essex

The following day, enjoy trolling for antique books at shops along the  Main streets of Essex, Old Saybrook and Clinton.

Visit Niantic’s Book Barn, a seven-building complex packed with 350,000 tomes. If you’re looking for a hard-to-get or out-of-print book, you may find it here.