# I would have bought even more books in Oxford 2025-02-10 **I remember seeing people reading and studding in pubs in the movies, but I always doubted it was a real thing.** Our first site as first-time visitors to Oxford was [Blackwell’s Bookshop](https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/790177874215477300). My wife and I are passionate about books, and that was a fascinating experience, but I was not expecting to see myself immediately entering another bookshop in the same street. Keep in mind that it happened minutes after spending almost the entire morning trying to control myself not to buy all the incredible books in that maze of shelves. ![[vladcampos.com/_photos/2025-01-29 Inside Blackwel.jpg]] The first book I bought that day was ‘[The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction](https://amzn.to/4hOSV0D)’, but I would have purchased many others if I weren’t restricted by the size of the cabin baggage I was allowed to bring onboard the plane on my trip back to Porto. And the bookstores were not the only ones tempting me. During one of our random walks, we came across a secondhand shop selling all sorts of intriguing old items and, of course, books. It has to be small—I told myself. ‘[The observer’s book of manned spaceflight](https://amzn.to/3EyapA3)’ from 1975 is indeed very compact, but there’s so much detail in it. It made me think a lot about how hard it was to write a book like this in the past. For starters, think about all the fact-checking. In hindsight, choosing this book might have not been only a question of size. There must have been a big role played by my subconscious as well. The store had all these signs inviting people to follow them on #Twitter, and I couldn’t resist and had to [talk to them about decentralized social media](https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/790685631727872988), in particular [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/vladcampos.com) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@vladcampos), when paying for the book. The current state of that other social network and that person, whom I’d rather not mention the name, are making me even stop watching some great creators covering SpaceX. Yes, I’m probably not mature enough to separate things. Or, maybe, I’m just a simple human being with a strong sense of ethics. Anyway, back to the city and its countless bookshops. ![[vladcampos.com/_photos/2025-01-30 More books down stairs.png]] This time it was a store practically bagging us to go inside. There were so many books outside, just like fruits and vegetables found in boxes on the sidewalk in small European grocery stores. And there it was for less than £3. ‘[[vladcampos.com/Static/Library/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep|Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep]]’ has been on my TBR list for a long time, and I had to get it. How many bookstores are there in this city? ![[vladcampos.com/Static/Library/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep]] Then there’s all these people studying everywhere. And they are not pretending; one can clearly see they are really trying to master something complicated. The funniest day, however, was when we went to this restaurant for lunch, and there it was, the funniest sigh ever. ![[vladcampos.com/_photos/2025-01-31 From 5pm study here.jpg]] In the same place, a girl at the table behind ours literally told her friend that she was staying for just one more hour, and then she would go to a pub and study there. I remember seeing people reading and studying in pubs in movies set in Oxford, but I honestly did not believe that was a real thing. Not only is it true, but it's extremely prevalent and widespread. However, books were not the only items I had a hard time packing. As you know, [[vladcampos.com/Timeline/Blog/2020s/2024/2024-10-11 • This is the perfect device for an immersive and mindful music experience|I still use an old iPod]], and a few years ago I started a trend. Buying random used CDs at secondhand shops when traveling to different countries. Then, at home, ripping them and adding the songs to my iPod. Of course, I had to grab a couple on this trip as well. So far, only good surprises. I had to turn down so many interesting titles like ‘[Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters](https://amzn.to/3WQh7aT)’ just because I didn’t have enough space. Yes, I’ll probably end up buying them online, but it’s not the same thing. If you enjoy reading, you know what I’m talking about, and you should probably organize a trip to Oxford with time to spare in coffee shops and pubs. To read, of course. But remember to leave space in your bag for all the incredible books you’ll be almost forced to buy. ![[vladcampos.com/Timeline/Blog/Posts|Posts]]