**Newly opened and currently open til 6pm but they are looking to expand their hours shortly. If…read moreyou're unsure about opening hours and you want to visit, I recommend firing off a tweet to @SECONDHOMELDN ** Popped in to Libreria last night for a quick reconnaissance mission. New independent bookshops aren't exactly ten a penny. It also happened to be World Book Day, I have just realised. It was meant to be. I love how it looks from the outside. Like a portal to another world. You go down Hanbury Street, think you must've missed it and then...suddenly it's there. Stylish black shopfront with a nice inviting glow. This was only a very quick visit but I like how they do things in Libreria. First, I have to note that there was a Riga RP-1 record player with Velvet Underground & Nico on the turntable so...good start. No espresso bar here. No mobiles allowed. Comfy seating and little nooks to sit down and check out a book. Tick tick tick. Sally, Libreria's director, introduced herself to me and explained how things were laid out. Very friendly and helpful. Books are largely organised alphabetically, fiction on the left and nonfic on the right. However, within that, books are clustered into themes or ideas, in order to promote interesting combinations of books nestling next to each other. Great idea. Pure A-Z is so 2015. Also, they have asked celebs to do a mini-curation of their favourite books. Shami Chakrabarti's faves are currently on display. I think the idea is to change everything round every quarter. Events are also gonna happen here. I dutifully added my email to the mailing list on the front desk. Waterstones can do one.

A quaint independent bookstore in the eastern part of London…read more https://prashantmudgal.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/the-cost-of-living/

An excellent bookshop in the centre of Cambridge, with a huge range of both academic and more…read moremainstream texts. I was after a copy of Pevsner, (eclectic tastes, I'm afraid) and they had the full range in stock. Great stuff. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff. A long queue formed on my visit, but they got in 2 extra staff to tackle it after less than a minute. Recommended.

They don't take refunds on statute books (a book which has the law of something on it, in my case…read morethe Companys Act, 2006 and related laws). Something they didn't tell me when I first purchased the product. Something that wasn't reflected in the receipt. Something that wasn't on a sign on the counter. All they could offer was "sorry". What is the reason for this, I asked? Because statute books can be photocopied and returned. But that is the same for ALL books in theory. Actually it is even less likely for statute books, because YOU CAN PRINT IT FOR FREE ON THE INTERNET. I imagine they must have other nonsensical policies out there just waiting to bite you. Out of principle, I won't be buying anything from this place ever. Amazon here I come.

Black Gull is an alternative book store in the old fashioned sense…read more Books are piled up on top of each other and prices are written in pencil on the inside cover. There are mostly used books in this shop. I think the prices are pretty good. I found one of one Erica Jong's books( old favourite is Fear of Flying , high end smut :) called Fear of Fifty for 3 pounds. Also of interest, was a book of transvestite fetish photos. Cool. This is a good place to browse books, if you are unsure what you are after. I think this is the best way to find something new to read. The only thing is there is no seating. Still, you'll have fun browsing in this store.

A super place to browse and find the odd treasure. I bought great Christmas presents here,…read moreincluding a gorgeously illustrated 1972 book on Bakst, and a vintage Giles cartoon annual. Also a couple of immaculate Nadine Gordimers for my husband. There's a delightful children's section, and comfortable seating.

Awesome I genuinely love working with bookstores and…read moreauthors. There's something special about spaces filled with stories, creativity, and people who truly appreciate books. Even when bookstores are crowded and full of energy, they still carry that classic charm that reminds you of how real bookstores used to feel before everything became generic. Helping bookstores and authors grow through authentic promotion and marketing is something I truly enjoy because every book deserves the right audience and visibility.

Beautiful and charming old bookstore! Three floors with lots of books! Friendly staff! Love…read morevisiting this bookstore!

You know that oft-quoted line from the movie High Fidelity that goes "I agreed that what really…read morematters is what you like, not what you are like... books, records, films -- these things matter"? The truth of this is up for debate, but are you someone whose eyes light up (and ears perk up) at the mention of The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian, Arcade Fire, and The Strokes (who were all signed to Rough Trade at one point or another), even though you're loath to admit that you read Pitchfork occasionally...? Go on. This is just the place for you. Make a pilgrimage to Rough Trade because we both know that you're the kind of person who'd wander around Brick Lane anyway. Rough Trade makes me feel like that this is probably what an everyday record store looked like back in the heyday of college radio back in the '80s and '90s. (Recent former college DJ here, confirming that absolutely no one listened to our station because we were online.) There's something for every music fan here, from indie to underground CDs and vinyl to hip music memorabilia such as posters and clothing. Browse to your heart's content and remember to stop by when there's a free gig going on. Soak up the cooler-than-you vibes that'll help boost your indie cred, fork out some money for the trendy black-and-white photo booth (you know you can't resist it), and brag to all of your friends back home that you discovered a cool new band here that they've probably never heard of before.

I loved getting to check out Rough Trade Records. As a vinyl junkie, it was like a music pilgrimage…read morefor me while I was in London. I wanted to check out the original location, though I read it was not in the original location/building any more and we were never quite close enough to it while on our trip to make it a convenient stop. So this one became the one for me given that I read it had the best overall selection in the city. Loved this place. Active, vibrant, folks everywhere checking out records. There's a coffee and bar up front so after shopping I sipped a pint and continued to listen to the great music they played throughout. Prices were fair, a lot of new sealed vinyl at "2 for 50 (pounds)" or even 13-20 pounds single. I loved the notes and "essentials" stickers pointing you to different music. I picked up several albums, focusing on ones I don't often (or ever) see on the rack in the states, a book, some rough trade branded merch. I love that they sell quality turntables and stereo gear, etc.--but sadly none of that would fit in my carry-on! The only thing that keeps this from being a "5 star" record shop for me is that if I lived here, it couldn't be my "go to" given that there are no used/trade-in options. I popped in one other Rough Trade location on our trip and guess that is standard, these are sealed/new record sellers only. But it's such a cool spot and I'm glad I went. Saved my Rough Trade cloth bag for display.

Best bookstore in London for language books (Celtic, German, English, Italian, Spanish, French,…read moreHebrew, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Dutch, etc.!!) and it has a cafe upstairs as well as a huge kids books area.

In 2018, after 115 years of independent bookselling, then-Chairman Christopher Foyle and the Board…read moreof Directors sold the company to Waterstones, with the proviso that the Foyles name must endure. Based on our recent visit, let's now call this place a chain on steroids. I just wonder how much the inevitable Corporate culture has robbed the old independent Foyles of its soul. Gayle and I spend a fair amount of time on various floors and sections. I found a nice Judaica book, a BBC publication for an upcoming PROMS program, and some filing folders. Gayle found a book she was looking for and a gift for back home. It was a fun and good outing, but not a great one. The place was clean and shiny, and with attentive and helpful employees. That's good and sometimes not. And if given more time, I'd would have preferred to be in a dusty independent specialty bookseller.

I really do love exploring and browsing book stores, even though I pretty much have everything I…read morewant (though I do end up finding stuff that I want). Anyway, yeah, this was a pretty cool bookshop, and there were a lot of interesting books here. Honestly, I could spend hours here.

Not that I consider myself a bookshop connoisseur as such, but I always love to check out…read moresecond-hand bookshops when I travel. This is in my top 3 bookshops I've ever visited (the other two, in case you were wondering: Shakespeare & Sons, Prague, and The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles). This place had thousands of books, with that old book smell that I love. The store seems to go on forever, and there are so many nooks and crannies filled with more books! I particularly loved the old books section; we got some classics (Jane Austen, DH Lawrence, Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo) that were editions published in the early 1900s for £3-£5. My husband raided the sci-fi section while I raided the general fiction and we came up with another 9 books between us, all between 99p and £3, and all good quality. We were only able to spend 1 hour in there. It wasn't enough. I felt rushed. I needed more time! Living in London, Rochester is only 45 minutes away. I'll be back. The guy who I believe is the owner, was friendly and sweet. This is such a great find. FYI a lot of Rochester high street is filled with little independent stores, it's a really lovely place to visit!

This book shop is like the Tardis it doesn't look that big from the outside but once you're in…read moreyou're almost in a different world one that is crammed with any book you could want. Everything is laid out in a logical order by genre and the staff are very knowledgeable and happy to help you find what you're looking for. They can even tell you release dates and preorder books for you. The kids section is great, they are happy for kids to have a look at a book before you buy it and I've never had any trouble returning unwanted presents. Prices aren't cheap, but you can't compare specialist book shops to supermarkets really.

This bookstore has a good selection of fiction and non fiction books. It offers a wide range of…read morebooks for adults and children. I have found it to stock whatever I've been after. There are sometimes good promotions on. This store is bright, clean and tidy, with knowledgable, helpful staff. Sometimes they have an author in for a book signing. Details of these events are advertised at the entrance to the store.