Where to read for a few hours?

That sounds delightful! I've had a really busy period at work so I've booked myself a week in a cottage by the coast and I'm hoping to do much the same. I'm seriously counting down the days.

It’s an interesting question …

I have in the past stayed in exactly the sort of women’s club you describe - and didn’t find it particularly conducive to leisurely reading. Too many distractions - other people, Chelsea, whatever had taken me to London when I wasn’t living there.

Anyway … The two most obvious possibilities are booking a hotel for a couple of nights or booking into a retreat - but the greatest bar to peaceful reading is whatever stresses and worries you carry with you. Being alone can sometimes amplify them. (That said, I did once, over a long weekend at a retreat in Somerset, re-read the entire Narnia series after finding them in the library there.)

How far are you from North Wales? If more than an hour, this would have to be a longer stay than just a few hours - but I don’t think there’s a better place in the UK for what you want:

Gladstone’s Library.

Ignore all the promotional bumf, you don’t have to attend any particular event or course. It’s essentially a breathtaking building with a glorious library, bedrooms, food, interesting fellow residents, a common room, all set in a village just beyond Chester. Highly addictive.

When I was a student the college common room was a good place to read. Exactly like the idea of a members club (members bars were probably based on college common rooms actually), comfy sofas, newspapers and journals to read and a bar to get drinks and snacks from. Bliss. We even had a small balcony to look out over the river if the weather was nice. The college library was quieter but no bar or sofas.

I know that you've said indoors BUT I'm fortunate to live within a very short distance of a lovely seafront. There are benches all the way along, some pretty gardens opposite the beach and, of course, coffee stalls, ice-cream shops and other food options available. I can spend a whole day with my book bag, moving from bench to bench when I feel like it, grazing as I go! When I'm not absorbed with my book, there are always ships & people to watch.

If it rains I can be home again in a few minutes. It's perfect!