Today I returned to London to visit bookshops in North and South London. I used the overground train between Highbury & Islington and New Cross. This took me through some poor neighbourhoods.
I am running out of shops to visit in London. I'd only planned six bookshops today. Three of them close on Mondays, which seems to be a London bookshop thing.
75. Holloway Road Stationers at 357 Holloway Road is five minutes walk from Holloway Road Tube Station. It has sold both stationery and books for forty years. In the past eight years it has given less shelf space to books because of falling demand. Profit margins are higher on stationery than books.
The shop is still the main local bookshop in the area. It has books on education, puzzles, fiction, literature, and a miscellaneous selection based on what customers have requested.
The shop was quite busy when I was there. He was friendly to customers who came in for various items and passed the time of day by discussing which bodily organ they'd recently had lopped off.
Kieren, the owner, has the bookshop lease for ten years but he is due to retire in five.
76. Ink@84 is at 84, Highbury Park and is ten minutes walk from Arsenal underground. It is a bookshop with a cafe. It has only been open for three and a half years and is the idea of author Betsy Tobin who manages it with Tessa Shaw. Betsy's books are available in the shop.
The bookshop is about two narrowboats in size and arranged into subject areas. It feels like a relaxing local bookshop inside. There's a good children's section. It also has a licence to kill, with a range of beers, wines and light refreshments when they put on events.
The shop had visitors drinking coffee and discussing books during my visit.
77. New Beacon Books is at 76 Stroud Green Road, close to Finsbury Park Tube Station. It sells books by Afro-Caribbean writers, only not on a Monday. I was surprised to see so many wigs for sale in Finsbury Park.
78. Ripley and Lambert at 542 Kingsland, near Dalston Junction overground station. It sounds like a firm of solicitors, in which case it would be open on Mondays. But it isn't; it is a bookshop selling books about films and it is closed on Mondays.
79. The Word Bookshop at 374 New Cross Road is ten minutes from New Cross and New Cross Gate overland lines. It sounds like a Christian Bookshop. "We get calls from people who're annoyed because we're not a Christian Bookshop", admitted the owner of this left-wing, radical academic bookshop. He has wondered about changing the name.
The shop is in a Goldsmith's College building with a Goodyear Tyres sign hanging over it. It is very small yet it uses its space well. It provides course books to Goldsmith's students at the start of the academic year, and is also a local bookshop. It has a good range of children's books, graphic novels, and books by local authors. Their range of left-wing books is particularly attractive.
The shop has been open for three years. It runs a scheme where students can read and re-sell books they bought from the shop. This helps keep prices down for them.
The shop is a out of the way in South London. The unusual book selection make this shop worth a visit.
I am running out of shops to visit in London. I'd only planned six bookshops today. Three of them close on Mondays, which seems to be a London bookshop thing.
75. Holloway Road Stationers at 357 Holloway Road is five minutes walk from Holloway Road Tube Station. It has sold both stationery and books for forty years. In the past eight years it has given less shelf space to books because of falling demand. Profit margins are higher on stationery than books.
The shop is still the main local bookshop in the area. It has books on education, puzzles, fiction, literature, and a miscellaneous selection based on what customers have requested.
The shop was quite busy when I was there. He was friendly to customers who came in for various items and passed the time of day by discussing which bodily organ they'd recently had lopped off.
Kieren, the owner, has the bookshop lease for ten years but he is due to retire in five.
76. Ink@84 is at 84, Highbury Park and is ten minutes walk from Arsenal underground. It is a bookshop with a cafe. It has only been open for three and a half years and is the idea of author Betsy Tobin who manages it with Tessa Shaw. Betsy's books are available in the shop.
The bookshop is about two narrowboats in size and arranged into subject areas. It feels like a relaxing local bookshop inside. There's a good children's section. It also has a licence to kill, with a range of beers, wines and light refreshments when they put on events.
The shop had visitors drinking coffee and discussing books during my visit.
77. New Beacon Books is at 76 Stroud Green Road, close to Finsbury Park Tube Station. It sells books by Afro-Caribbean writers, only not on a Monday. I was surprised to see so many wigs for sale in Finsbury Park.
78. Ripley and Lambert at 542 Kingsland, near Dalston Junction overground station. It sounds like a firm of solicitors, in which case it would be open on Mondays. But it isn't; it is a bookshop selling books about films and it is closed on Mondays.
79. The Word Bookshop at 374 New Cross Road is ten minutes from New Cross and New Cross Gate overland lines. It sounds like a Christian Bookshop. "We get calls from people who're annoyed because we're not a Christian Bookshop", admitted the owner of this left-wing, radical academic bookshop. He has wondered about changing the name.
The shop is in a Goldsmith's College building with a Goodyear Tyres sign hanging over it. It is very small yet it uses its space well. It provides course books to Goldsmith's students at the start of the academic year, and is also a local bookshop. It has a good range of children's books, graphic novels, and books by local authors. Their range of left-wing books is particularly attractive.
The shop has been open for three years. It runs a scheme where students can read and re-sell books they bought from the shop. This helps keep prices down for them.
The shop is a out of the way in South London. The unusual book selection make this shop worth a visit.
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