Today rained heavily again. I started at Notting Hill and worked eastwards.
49. Notting Hill Bookshop is a small local bookshop at 13 Blenheim Crescent, 5 minutes walk from Ladbroke Grove underground station. It's friendly and popular with tourists and locals.
There is a story to Notting Hill Bookshop. It started in 1979 as a travel bookshop and was twice as big. It became famous after the bookshop in the film, Notting-Hill with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, was based on this shop. Now has lots of tourists visiting it. In 2011 it extended its range to become a general bookshop, and shrank to half the size. As a result, it can be hard to get through the door on Saturdays due to customers and visitors. It was busy when I visited.
The books in the shop were engaging. About a third of the shop space was given to travel and children's books. It is fundamentally a local bookshop with global fame.
50. Books For Cooks is just over the road from the Notting Hill Bookshop.
The shop's name makes it very clear what sort of books are inside.
The shop started in 1983 and combines cookery books with food. The star of the bookshop is Eric the French chef who sadly is away in France at the moment celebrating harvest festival. Without Eric it's just a bookshop. With Eric, it's lunch, too! At 12pm the shop serves a three-course meal for £7, or £9 with a glass of wine. It is popular. On Tuesdays it's vegetarian, and on Friday it's fish.
Eric has "a French attitude to food intolerances." In other words, if you can't tolerate the ingredients you eat elsewhere. What can you expect? After all, it's a bookshop not a restaurant!
I asked if anyone had ever produced a cookbook for people intolerant to onions. Not yet, apparently. However, one will be published on 15th October called, "No Garlic, No Onions". My stomach will be pleased.
51. Lutyens and Rubinstein at 21 Kensington Park Road is a few minutes walk from Books for Cooks. This is another local bookshop on the same area and it too is quite popular. Founded in 2009 by literary agents who asked readers what books they wanted in the shop, they created the core books. It is no longer so libertarian though, and is managed as a regular bookshop.
The shop was too small, as usual. It was on two floors, the bottom floor (the basement) being for fiction. On a balcony was the children's section, and non-fiction was in the rest of the shop. The staff were very, very helpful and friendly.
Apart from books, there were also some book accessories available. I thought the reading glasses were a good idea.
52. Book and Comic Exchange at 30, Pembridge Road is very close to Notting Hill tube station. It's a strange shop. When I entered, American Boxing was being broadcast loudly on the speakers. It had a 1970s feel about the place. It was a small building with comics kept in plastic sleeves in the centre, and various books in shelves on the wall. There were horror novels by Stephen King, Dr Who books, Manga books, and children's annuals from the 70's.
The Boxing was turned down and I managed to speak to the person behind the till. He says it's been going for about 30 years and that their stock comes from house clearances and people who come to the shop to sell books. They work with the Book exchange shop next door. Someone brings in a comic and they're given 'monopoly money' that they can use to exchange for items in the Book or Comic Exchange shops.
Business was quite slow. He said it's easier to sell the Stephen King novels than the graphic novels.
This made me wonder: if your stock has a slow turnover, at what point do you decide to replace it with something else? If you're selling a comic which take up little space then it doesn't matter if it doesn't sell. If you're short of space and you have hundreds of comics, then you're losing the opportunity to put something else in that space that might be sell well. I expect there is a formula that tells you when is the best time to change stock, based on average turnover, the book thickness and for how long it has sat on the shelves.
53 The Science Museum Bookshop is well sign-posted from South Kensington underground station. I wanted to attend this because there are no science bookshops in London that I could find. None. If you want to read Latin or Greek there's a bookshop. If you want to learn about spaceflight, you have to go to a generalist bookshop, or to the Science Museum Bookshop.
The Science Museum doesn't have a dedicated bookshop so you'd be better going to a generalist bookshop. It used to have a Waterstones in the building but the concession ended and Waterstones took away all their books. As a result the books available at the museum are very limited. They seem appealing for children, but the range is limited and the depth shallow. Each book is good and staff are helpful, but in my opinion it is a dreadfully poor presentation of science books for a national museum of science when the country is meant to be investing in science education. The Science Museum has a few shelves for science books. The Tate Modern gallery has three bookshops, each around five narrowboats in size. That is wrong.
54. Forbidden Planet at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue is about 10 minutes walk from Holborn Tube Station. Forbidden Planet has been running since 1978 and sells anything to do with science fiction and fantasy. On the ground floor are t-shirts, lego, and action characters. In the very large basement are the books and magazines.
The basement was about 24 narrowboats in size. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of subjects covered, including Steampunk books and comedy. Men and women of all ages were in the shop. I expect this will be a good shop for Christmas presents. My only criticism of the shop is it feels a bit corporate, like a chainstore. I don't know if that's the same in the other eight Forbidden Planet stores around the country.
55. Karnac Books on the Finchley Road is close to Swish Cottage Underground station - at the moment. It was started around 50 years ago by Mr Karnac and was simply a local bookstore. One of his customers was Donald Winnicott, a renowned psychoanalyst who suggested the bookshop should specialise in books on psychotherapy.
Although the shop is only small it is comprehensive in its coverage of psychotherapy. Most books are published by Routledge Press but some are published by Karnac Books. Recently the publishing wing was bought by Routledge.
The bookshop is well connected with therapists and courses.
Until 18 months ago the bookshop was on Gloucester Road. It's current location is good because a number of psychotherapy courses run nearby. However, the shop lease is ending in January next year and will not be renewed so the future of Karnac Books is uncertain. It may merge with another bookseller, or may move to King's Cross or elsewhere. It won't stay in its current location.
56. Quaker Bookshop is opposite Euston Station in London. I suspect many people aren't aware of this shop larger than many local bookshops. The book part of the shop is the size of eight narrowboats, although a lot of available space isn't used for books. It has an interesting selection of books on equality, sustainability, politics, mental health, gardening, and a large children's section. The shop is next to the cafe so the room was busy and slightly noisy, which is unusual for a bookshop.
Here is a tree made from recycled book boxes:
49. Notting Hill Bookshop is a small local bookshop at 13 Blenheim Crescent, 5 minutes walk from Ladbroke Grove underground station. It's friendly and popular with tourists and locals.
There is a story to Notting Hill Bookshop. It started in 1979 as a travel bookshop and was twice as big. It became famous after the bookshop in the film, Notting-Hill with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, was based on this shop. Now has lots of tourists visiting it. In 2011 it extended its range to become a general bookshop, and shrank to half the size. As a result, it can be hard to get through the door on Saturdays due to customers and visitors. It was busy when I visited.
50. Books For Cooks is just over the road from the Notting Hill Bookshop.
The shop's name makes it very clear what sort of books are inside.
The shop started in 1983 and combines cookery books with food. The star of the bookshop is Eric the French chef who sadly is away in France at the moment celebrating harvest festival. Without Eric it's just a bookshop. With Eric, it's lunch, too! At 12pm the shop serves a three-course meal for £7, or £9 with a glass of wine. It is popular. On Tuesdays it's vegetarian, and on Friday it's fish.
Eric has "a French attitude to food intolerances." In other words, if you can't tolerate the ingredients you eat elsewhere. What can you expect? After all, it's a bookshop not a restaurant!
I asked if anyone had ever produced a cookbook for people intolerant to onions. Not yet, apparently. However, one will be published on 15th October called, "No Garlic, No Onions". My stomach will be pleased.
51. Lutyens and Rubinstein at 21 Kensington Park Road is a few minutes walk from Books for Cooks. This is another local bookshop on the same area and it too is quite popular. Founded in 2009 by literary agents who asked readers what books they wanted in the shop, they created the core books. It is no longer so libertarian though, and is managed as a regular bookshop.
The shop was too small, as usual. It was on two floors, the bottom floor (the basement) being for fiction. On a balcony was the children's section, and non-fiction was in the rest of the shop. The staff were very, very helpful and friendly.
Apart from books, there were also some book accessories available. I thought the reading glasses were a good idea.
The Boxing was turned down and I managed to speak to the person behind the till. He says it's been going for about 30 years and that their stock comes from house clearances and people who come to the shop to sell books. They work with the Book exchange shop next door. Someone brings in a comic and they're given 'monopoly money' that they can use to exchange for items in the Book or Comic Exchange shops.
Business was quite slow. He said it's easier to sell the Stephen King novels than the graphic novels.
This made me wonder: if your stock has a slow turnover, at what point do you decide to replace it with something else? If you're selling a comic which take up little space then it doesn't matter if it doesn't sell. If you're short of space and you have hundreds of comics, then you're losing the opportunity to put something else in that space that might be sell well. I expect there is a formula that tells you when is the best time to change stock, based on average turnover, the book thickness and for how long it has sat on the shelves.
53 The Science Museum Bookshop is well sign-posted from South Kensington underground station. I wanted to attend this because there are no science bookshops in London that I could find. None. If you want to read Latin or Greek there's a bookshop. If you want to learn about spaceflight, you have to go to a generalist bookshop, or to the Science Museum Bookshop.
The Science Museum doesn't have a dedicated bookshop so you'd be better going to a generalist bookshop. It used to have a Waterstones in the building but the concession ended and Waterstones took away all their books. As a result the books available at the museum are very limited. They seem appealing for children, but the range is limited and the depth shallow. Each book is good and staff are helpful, but in my opinion it is a dreadfully poor presentation of science books for a national museum of science when the country is meant to be investing in science education. The Science Museum has a few shelves for science books. The Tate Modern gallery has three bookshops, each around five narrowboats in size. That is wrong.
54. Forbidden Planet at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue is about 10 minutes walk from Holborn Tube Station. Forbidden Planet has been running since 1978 and sells anything to do with science fiction and fantasy. On the ground floor are t-shirts, lego, and action characters. In the very large basement are the books and magazines.
The basement was about 24 narrowboats in size. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of subjects covered, including Steampunk books and comedy. Men and women of all ages were in the shop. I expect this will be a good shop for Christmas presents. My only criticism of the shop is it feels a bit corporate, like a chainstore. I don't know if that's the same in the other eight Forbidden Planet stores around the country.
55. Karnac Books on the Finchley Road is close to Swish Cottage Underground station - at the moment. It was started around 50 years ago by Mr Karnac and was simply a local bookstore. One of his customers was Donald Winnicott, a renowned psychoanalyst who suggested the bookshop should specialise in books on psychotherapy.
The bookshop is well connected with therapists and courses.
Until 18 months ago the bookshop was on Gloucester Road. It's current location is good because a number of psychotherapy courses run nearby. However, the shop lease is ending in January next year and will not be renewed so the future of Karnac Books is uncertain. It may merge with another bookseller, or may move to King's Cross or elsewhere. It won't stay in its current location.
56. Quaker Bookshop is opposite Euston Station in London. I suspect many people aren't aware of this shop larger than many local bookshops. The book part of the shop is the size of eight narrowboats, although a lot of available space isn't used for books. It has an interesting selection of books on equality, sustainability, politics, mental health, gardening, and a large children's section. The shop is next to the cafe so the room was busy and slightly noisy, which is unusual for a bookshop.
Here is a tree made from recycled book boxes:
You didn't make it to Skoob? Worth it just for the location
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