Book shops.
I could spend hours in them, and indeed do.
The smell of them is so comforting. Particularly if there is a coffee shop attached to it :) When I first moved to London and didn't have a job and needed to occupy myself during the day, I'd spend the morning or afternoon combing through Waterstone's in Piccadilly, or the smaller book shops in Notting Hill, or the Foyles in Charing Cross Road, or the book market down on the South Bank. Being among all the books was like being among friends. I'd sit in the attached coffee shop and write too, for hours.
When I travel, I can never resist them, and always ask for recommendations! Five years before I went to San Francisco, I knew I wanted to see the City Lights Book Store if I ever got there. Some people go to Paris to see the Louvre - I went to see Shakespeare and Company!
And when I go back to Hobart and Melbourne, to the book stores that became my stomping ground - Fullers in Collins Street, Hobart and Readings in Lygon Street, North Melbourne - it feels like going back into a time machine, having access to the part of myself that has never changed.
And although I often buy books from Amazon (who doesn't!), nothing can replace that comforting, reassuring feeling you get wandering among the shelves, picking up a book and getting lost for hours; the smell of fresh pages and crisp spines. And I get a little shiver sometimes, thinking my book might be on that shelf one day. Let's hope so, anyway!
My favourite book shops in London are:
London Review Bookshop, Bloomsbury
Foyles, Charing Cross Road
Waterstone's, Piccadilly
Books for Cooks, Portobello Road
Judd Books, Bloomsbury
Oxfam Book Shop, Marylebone
Red Cross Book Shop, Palmers Green
What's your favourite book shop?
9 comments:
I love book shops too! Can't resist them. There is a wonderful bookshop in Grey Lynn, Auckland called Dear Reader. They have lots of comfy couches and arm chairs with coffee tables stacked up with interesting books - they literally invite you to sit down and get lost in a story!
There's also a fantastic second hand book shop just below the yoga studio I go to in Herne Bay - their window always has the latest well loved reads on display.
I'm so looking forward to finding your book in my favourite book shop one of these days!
You made me nostalgic for London bookshops. I live in Texas and there are lots of bookstores but they're mostly all big chains. There's not really much character in that although they do carry wonderful books. But the uniform structure, the blank faces assistants, the lack of the independent bookstore zest lessens the experience to me. I can't wait to be back in London again so I can go spend hours in a bookstore!
Jai
Antipodes in Sorrento, Victoria is definately my absolute favourite bookshop, Readings in Carlton comes a very close second.
I'm loving this series 'about you'. You're writing is different since your return from Arvon. You seem to be so much more confident. I think it's great!
I read on someone's blog (I can't remember whose!) that their idea of heaven was a big library! I really love that idea. Books shops are impossible to resist. It's so worth the sore neck from looking at the sideways titles :)
I love this post Phil...and in fact your entire 'things I love' series.
My daughter Tess and I spend many a Saturday afternoon browsing and sitting in bookshops around Melbourne (and beyond).
Our favourites are Tim's bookshop in Maling road Canterbury, The Bookshop at Queenscliff, Readings in Malvern and Borders in Camberwell.
L x
My favorite is Tattered Cover, and I was very excited to see the photo you included! I grew up going there as a little girl, and I still spend tons of time there, especially at the one in downtown Denver. One of my favorite memories is of getting a book autographed by Judy Blume.
And now they sell soy chai too :)
I love, love, love bookstores! I always take a deep breath when I walk through the door to inhale that bookstore smell, lol. I could spend hours and hours wandering through them!
I don't like shopping in the bigger chain bookstores like Dymocks and Borders, but love smaller stores with cafes (like you :). My favourites are Berkelouw and also Shearer's in Leichhardt (Sydney), although the new Berkelouw in Newtown is pretty awesome too.
I feel about bookshops the way I imagine some people feel about churches. It's my place; it reflects my faith.
I love Kinokuniya because it's an English Language bookshop in Bangkok which is where I live...
Kathleen, thank you for your sweet comment! And I know what you mean about stores having inviting places to sit - the couches on level 2 of Waterstones Piccadilly are SO comfy!!
Jai, I agree, the independent bookstores have so much charm. The huge chain bookstores do have a bit of a wow factor, for a small town girl like me though :) When you come back to London make sure you let me know!
Tyana, ah, a fellow Readings lover! Thank you for your lovely comment. Now that you mention it, I do feel more confident with my writing since Arvon. And also what the course made me realise is that I want to write about things I love! Things I'm passionate about, my obsessions, the things that keep me awake at night and make me think. In a subconscious way, maybe I thought this little series I'm doing was a good way to start all that. It's helping my daily writing practice in any case!
Annelise, libraries are also one of the things I love!!
Leanne, I hope my future child will enjoy going to book stores with me too!
Tiffany, the Tattered Cover rocked!! Then we went and had fruit and nut martinis at a place that had a haunted bathroom...I loved Denver and wish I'd got to see more of it!
Natasha, that smell is amazing isn't it, I wonder if someone has bottled it.
JJ, I felt that way when I stepped into City Lights in San Francisco. It was like hallowed ground, a sacred place. And I think there is a Kinokuniya in Sydney, if I'm not mistaken, I've been there a few times.
Thanks for your comments, book lovers! xx
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