What's your favourite bookshop?

 Hot on the tail of Poetry Day we have Bookshop Day today, October 3rd, so I'd like to introduce you to my two favourite bookshops.

Cover to Cover in Mumbles opened in 1999 and when the owner retired a few years ago it was taken over by Tim Batcup who has managed to make even more of the small space in the shop.

Confession time: I didn't visit Cover to Cover for many years after its original opening because it had opened in direct competition to what was then my favourite bookshop, Charlotte's Web. Before Charlotte's Web closed down I had the pleasure of working there part-time, and we regarded Cover to Cover with disdain as the newcomer on the block.

But now it's under new ownership I'm happy to call in there when I'm in Mumbles - a rare happening since lockdown admittedly.

My other favourite is part of a chain: is that allowed?

Waterstones in Swansea is housed in a magnificent building, the old Carlton Cinema. I used to go there as a child to see the pictures; now I go there for the words. And is it awfully bad to admit that I sometimes note down titles from the bookshop to order from the library?

But the best thing about Waterstones is its Twitter account, or perhaps I should say, its Twitterer. It's not often that a business tweet is entertaining but @swanseastones is well worth a follow. As are @SwanseastoneGuy and @StinkyPondDog.