Buy books at Watermark

It will not be a surprise to hear that your author has a strong interest in London bookshops, but whilst our city has many great retailers of literature, unfortunately those found at stations are often quite lacklustre affairs. That is why occasional treats like the new Watermark Books at Kings Cross are so welcome.


Opened in the new concourse as part of the Kings Cross refurbishment, whilst the shop is the first Watermark in Europe, the company is known for it's travel-focused shops at airports in Australia and North America and they hope the shop at Kings Cross will be the first of a number in the UK. Their selection of books and the passion of the staff certainly didn't disappoint and your author will be making further trips in future.

For more, click here or follow the shop on twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/Watermark_Books

Attend the Hammersmith Irish Book Fair

The Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith is holding its annual Book Fair today, with hundreds of Irish and non-Irish books brought together by new and second-hand book dealers, and a lineup of various authors, performing and speaking about their work and the work of others.


The event takes place today from 10am - 3.30pm, and is followed by a one-man show by Irish actor and writer Frank Grimes titled "the he and the she of it..." A portrait of James Joyce. Entry to the fair is free, but tickets to the show cost £10.

For more, see http://irishculturalcentre.co.uk/?q=content/annual-book-fair

_{^Picture © SoniaT 360 used under Creative Commons^}

Buy books at My Back Pages

Though in places the books are rather pricey, presumably to match the big boy of the second hand book market, The Oxfam, My Back Pages in Balham opened in 1991, and is a pleasant place to while away an hour or so, and has a fantastic array of books.


Stuffed onto the shelves, in a way that seems ramshackle, but is actually rather well sorted and ordered, the shop is larger than many London second hand bookshops, and has the intriguing trait of offering new books beside the old on the shelves. My back pages boasts second-hand, antiquarian and new books, and for real bargain-hunters there are also a few boxes of 50p specials out the front.

For more, see http://www.abebooks.co.uk/my-back-pages-balham-london/4714790/sf

Browse the bookshop at Morden Hall Park

The tiny bookshop at the National Trust's Morden Hall Park in South London is a gem, with a pleasant selection of battered paperbacks and informative non-fiction books, and not a kindle in sight.


Part of the grounds of the old Hall, which make up the 125 acre park, the bookshop is open daily from 11am - 3pm at this time of year, and is found is in a historic building beside the old watermill, which was once used to grind tobacco for snuff.

For more, see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/morden-hall-park/.

Buy the Tired of London, Tired of Life book

It's been on the shelves in some shops since the beginning of the week, and has even already sold out in a fair few, but as today is the official publication date for the Tired of London, Tired of Life book, your author would not be doing his job if he didn't encourage you to consider buying a copy.


Your author alone has been writing this website every day for more than three years, spending weekends happily wandering the streets looking for interesting things to document, and late nights researching and writing, just for the love of sharing ideas of things to do in London. There has never been any request for anything in return, and there was never any question of whether there should be. It has only ever been about encouraging people in London to engage with the place in which they live, and spreading the word about what a fascinating place it is to people further afield.

However, if you have enjoyed it, and would like to do something in return, it would mean a great deal if you would consider buying a copy of the book. The best way to do this is to go into your local independent bookshop and ask if they have it in, or can order one for you. This would be amazing, and would make one Londoner very happy.

For more on the book, see this review on Londonist, or listen again to Robert Elms's BBC London show from Monday.

Attend the Lewisham Pensioners Book Sale

The excellent Transpontine blog, always a treasure trove of South London information, informs us that today Lewisham Pensioners Forum is holding a book sale today at the Saville Centre, 436 Lewisham High Street.


We are told to expect a wide range of bargain books , and with a budget-friendly pricing structure of all paperbacks 25p or five for a pound, you really can't go wrong.

For more, see http://transpont.blogspot.com/2011/10/lewisham-pensioners-book-sale.html

Buy books at West End Lane Books

Established in West Hampstead in 1994, West End Lane Books today boasts 13,000 titles in stock, with a variety of adult and child fiction and non fiction.


Alongside everything you would expect from your local bookshop, West End Lane Books also hosts regular events and book groups for adults, and family clubs which include picture book stories and rhymes every Thursday.

For more, see http://westendlanebooks.co.uk/

Buy books at the Kennington Bookshop

Bookshops are for some reason very attractive to your author, and the Kennington Bookshop, opened in 2007 by Paula Kaplan, is no different.


The shop is found on Kennington Road, and is full of pretty books. It even currently has a sale on 2012 Moleskine diaries, though that is probably not of interest to normal people.

For more information, click here.

Celebrate Dickens Day

Charles Dickens died 9th June 1870, at an age of just 58, and to commemorate this, the Dickens Fellowship has organised a celebration of Dickens in the City, with various events taking place.


This morning, guided Dickens Walks leave the Royal Exchange in the City of London, pausing at St Michael’s Cornhill for a themed Dickens reading, and this is followed by lunchtime music and drama at Leadenhall Market, led by Gerald Dickens, Charles' great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens.

There are also events all day at the Charles Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street, an afternoon guided walk and a ceremony and wreath-laying at Westminster Abbey in the evening.

For more information, see http://www.dickensfellowship.org/Events/dickens-city-0

_{^Picture © Mskadu used under Creative Commons^}

Buy books at Skoob

Skoob Books, in the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury, is a brilliant second hand bookshop which boasts 55,000 different books over 2000 square subterranean feet underneath Waitrose.


Alongside this, the shop also has a million books lurking in a warehouse in Oxfordshire, from which they draw their stock, so it is obvious that this is a committed shop.

Skoob books has been a leader in London's second hand book market for more than thirty years, and in 2010 won a prize from one of the many magazines about London, who declared it London's best bookshop.

For more information, see http://www.skoob.com/

Browse the Victoria and Albert Reading Rooms

Did you know the V&A has opened a new bookshop and wine bar, completely separate from the museum itself, in South Kensington? No, neither did your author until he stumbled on it yesterday amongst the roadworks on Exhibition Road.


The concept is simple but brilliant, it's a wine bar and bookshop, where you can not only drink in beautiful surroundings, but also lower your inhibitions to the point where you aren't bothered how much you choose to spend on pretty books.

It opened in November, and whilst it was a bit low on customers when your author popped in, it had a great selection of books, and seemed like it would be a lovely spot for a glass of wine.

The Victoria and Albert Reading Rooms is open every day. For more, see http://www.vandareadingrooms.co.uk/

Hunt for books at the London Review Bookshop

Opened by the London Review of Books in 2003, Bloomsbury's London Review Bookshop claims to offer 20,000 titles, and is a haven for bookish types, with books packed into every nook and cranny over two floors.


The shop also offers a range of readings, discussions, talks and debates instore and elsewhere for a fairly reasonable basic price of £7 (with free wine afterwards), and a well-appointed - if a little expensive - neighbouring cake shop, but more of that another day.

The London Review Bookshop is situated at 14 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JL, and is open most days. For more information, click here, or visit the website at http://www.lrbshop.co.uk/


_{^Picture © the fantastic RachelH_ used under Creative Commons^}

Buy books at the Bookshop on the Heath

Whilst your author isn't sure they're quite accurate in describing themselves as 'one of London's...last remaining second-hand bookshops', the Bookshop on the Heath, in Blackheath, is certainly a gem, and should not be missed.


Any bookshop that, in the modern bookselling climate, sets a blanket price for paperbacks of £1.80 (or three for £5), and bravely holds out against the new big boy of second hand books, the Oxfam, selling books just a couple of doors down is a special place, but its the old and rare books which are really interesting at the Bookshop on the Heath.

The only problem with a bookshop like this is that it drives your author to buy books faster than he can read them, so he will have to ration the number of trips in future. That said, the reasonable price structure, and the obvious passion with which owners Jasmine and Richard Platt run this little family shop is very special, so maybe a trip to the bookshelf shop is more appropriate.

For more information, see http://www.bookshopontheheath.co.uk/

Buy books at Daunt Books, Marylebone

If you're looking for that last minute Christmas present, you could do worse than try the original Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street. A travel bookshop, with books arranged around the store by country, Daunt's main Edwardian store is known for its long oak galleries.


Its dark green and oak frontage, and beautiful interior with William Morris prints and skylights, have led to its being described as the most beautiful bookshop in London in the Daily Telegraph, and during the day the skylights also help to make the interior light and welcoming.

This is the perfect travellers bookshop. For more, see http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/

Attend the London Anarchist Bookfair

Even Anarchists need to buy their books from somewhere, and today marks the 28th London Anarchist Bookfair, at Queen Mary College in Mile End.


At last year’s bookfair there were apparently around 100 stalls and 50 meetings and lectures from different anarchist groups. There was also an all day cabaret starring assorted ranters, poets, singers and comics, and film showings. They tell us we can expect the same this year.

Your author can be rather patronising about anarchists, often using catch-all phrases like, "that's so sweet, but it will never ever work", but it is always interesting to hear from people who think differently to you, and they have gone to a lot of effort.

For more see http://www.anarchistbookfair.org.uk/index.html

_{^Picture from the Anarchists at http://www.wombles.org.uk/^}

Read in the Paul Hamlyn Library

The British Museum's Paul Hamlyn Library is a collection of 50,000 books and journals, aimed to allow visitors to find out more information about the Museum's collection, and the various cultures represented in the main collections.


Whilst it's current position is not quite as exciting as the Main British Library Reading Room once used by Marx, Lenin, Gandhi, Kipling and George Orwell, the current space in which it operates, just off Room 2 in the Museum, was home to an earlier library where Robert Browning, Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin conducted their studies.

The library operates as a purely reference library, and books are not available on loan. They are, however, available to everyone to read within the room, and for photocopying, during opening hours.

For more, see http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/libraries_and_archives.aspx

Spend an evening at the Bookshop Theatre

The Calder Bookshop, otherwise known as the Bookshop Theatre, was established in 2000 by John Calder on the Cut, between Waterloo Station and Southwark Tube Station.


The shop in literary fiction, poetry and drama, but it also hosts discussions, literary readings, film showings, music events and theatre performances.

Tonight, as part of this regular series of events, John Calder presents a selection of light and comic poems and verse, read by actors. The evening begins at 7pm and costs £6. Booking is advisable on 020 7620 2900 or amiddleton@calderbookshop.com.

For more information, see http://www.oneworldclassics.com/page.html?id=11

Browse for books at the Lutyens and Rubinstein bookshop

The Lutyens and Rubinstein Bookshop, at 21 Kensington Park Road, in Notting Hill, was opened by Literary Agents Sarah Lutyens and Felicity Rubinstein last autumn.


It's a great little shop, with tea available, specialising in fiction, general non-fiction and children's books, and it was a major departure for the pair, who had been agenting since 1993 according to The Bookseller.

Whilst they continue as literary agents from the same building, they're also doing a pretty good job at running a bookshop too.

The shop is open from 10am until 6pm, Monday-Saturday, and noon - 6pm on Sundays. For more, keep checking the website at http://www.lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/

Take it slow with the Slow London Guide

There's a lot of rushing to do in London, so sometimes we all need to take it a little bit slower, which is why your author was delighted to receive a free copy of the Slow London Guide recently. The book, part of a series of Slow Guides, is devoted to looking at London from a slower pace, without all the running from place to place usually involved in touristing, or living in a capital city.


Based around themes such as nature, taste, touch and travel, the concept is supposedly how you can get the most out of your time by fretting less, and examines some slow delights around town such as knitting groups, nature reserves, deck chairs, gardening, boat trips and DIY.

Your author's only criticism is the sheer volume of ideas packed into the guide, which also includes trips outside London, and even long distance sleeper trains. Whilst the guide has some brilliant ideas, it is rather busy at times and isn't as relaxing a read as it should be.

But the message is clear, slow down and you might enjoy life more. If only your author could make himself follow that mantra a bit more.

Slow London retails at £12.99, and for more you can have a look at their blog at http://slowguides.com/london

Shop for nautical novels at Maritime Books

Maritime Books, on Royal Hill in Greenwich, is a bookshop specialising in all aspects of naval and maritime history.


Originally established in North London in the 1970s, selling by catalogue, they first moved, rather more fittingly, to Greenwich in 1984, setting up shop in the historic surroundings of Greenwich Market. Two moves of premises later, they have settled at 66 Royal Hill, Greenwich in 2005, and have now expanded their offerings to include related material such prints.

The shop is open from 10am until 6pm, Tuesday-Saturday, and also deals on the internet at through catalogues. So, if you're seeking hard to find, out of print, used, or rare naval and maritime books, you know where to go.

For more, see http://www.navalandmaritimebooks.com/