Atlantis Books, Oia, Santorini Island, Greece (where Lena in SOTP). This is a dream of a bookstore. Perched on the cliffs of this volcanic island in a postcard-worthy Greek villa, it's run by an international collective of artists, writers and activists. As well as organizing theatre and open-air cinema, they set up programs such as the 'book donkey', which brings books to the local schools. I'll be living beside Atlantis for the first four months of 2006 to work on my next book.

Atlantisbooks.org: Atlantis Books opened in the spring of 2004. Since then Quinn and Karisha have arrived, and the cat’s had kittens. The bookshop feels like home now and we’re still laughing about how our children will run it someday. As Will says, it’s as easy as that. As you. As that. news and photos (a bookshop with beds yay: The room now contains not only standard shelves, but also a ‘philosophy tower’, a children’s corner, two extra beds and two swing bookcases.)

first on list - Author Jeremy Mercer picks his top 10 bookstores in the world.