London Book Benches Bike Binge

So, London has been flooded with book-shaped benches that each celebrate a book that is part of London's literary heritage (except Dickens, and, for some reason, Peter Pan, get two each).  Of course, "literary" is a flexible term, as one of the benches celebrates a... cricket almanac. However, the idea that cricket is a sport is a fiction*, so there's that.

The "Books About Town" event is sponsored by the National Literacy Trust and consists of 50 benches along 4 trails: Bloomsbury (near the Brit Museum), City (around St. Paul's and the Bank of England), Riverside (across the river from the Globe for about half a mile) and Greenwich (in, um, Greenwich). The Greenwich trail is cleverly located outside the range of the Boris Bike system, so you either get to pay some extra fees for keeping the bike too long or walk. Since I was hurting for time**, I opted to bike and then lug it back on the train.

My favorites:
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe:

From London Book Benches 2014

A Brief History of Time:

From London Book Benches 2014

The Diary of Samuel Pepys:

From London Book Benches 2014

Most Disappointing? A tie between The Origin of the Species:

From London Book Benches 2014

and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

From London Book Benches 2014

And a slideshow with each of the benches


* I also think baseball is not a sport, so shut up about "Americans not understanding cricket". I understand it, but any "sport" that has breaks for tea time is a game.
** Also, I am lazy.