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.

This quaint second hand book shop has an admirable range of books (19, 000!) from first editions,…read morerare finds to the academic sort. Conveniently located only a short walk from Soho as well as Leicester Square tube, Any Amount of Books is a safe haven to escape to from the busy streets of central London. They sell books as cheap as a pound to thousands. The choice is immense. If you go to their website you can see the books they sell and see if anything catches your fancy.

A great place to eavesdrop on intellectual conversations between the shopkeeper and the oldies…read morewho've been coming here for years. Minus one star 'cause it's so dusty you can barely breathe. Guess that's what happens when you're all historical and whatnot.

This bookstore is pretty big with four floors of books and restrooms at every level by the stairs…read more They do also have an elevator of course. You can spend hours here, but eventually they will have to ask eve time to leave when they close.

So, made the mistake of trying to pop in here to grab a book however time was against me…read more Showed up at about 8 minutes to and was not permitted to enter because 'they had started clearing floors from the top'.YMMV but don't assume you can get in due to their published hours. I can on a Sunday not sure if they are more mellow when there is less God

Wow. Just, wow! I decided to check this place out (due in now small part to the label "megastore"…read morein some directories). I was not disappointed. The location has two massive stories of wall-to-wall geeky joy. Books, action figures, art, video gaming goodness; it's got it all. I appreciated how everything was very well organized (largely by pop culture features/brands). It was so well organized that I didn't need to actually ask for any directions or help finding stuff.

Loved the selection of collectibles here! Loved that there are multiple locations for collectors.read more

I am one of the few Yelpers who seems to have come here for the books, not the cakes. In fact, upon…read moreentering the shop, I was so immediately attracted to the very many excellent and intriguing books, I missed the cafe entirely. (I have no doubt the cafe is excellent, as the reviews here confirm.) The sales staff was absolutely top-notch, and while the staff person was busy identifying several of the books by John Berger that were available, he and I had a nice conversation about Berger. As it turns out, London Review was involved in the publication of one of Berger's recent books, so of course they had it in stock. A truly superb bookshop, for new books, stocked with a highly discerning eye.

Hving read Andrew M's review, I think that I can see a pattern. I too was lured here on the promise…read moreof London's best carrot cake and like him, I was to be disappointed when we arrived as they had run out of said cake. It must be good! My friend Sharon brought me here and she is an avid reader. If you love interesting books, this is a treasure trove with books covering a whole multitude of subjects. The staff are excellent at recommending and finding specific books for you There's a little cafe next door to the bookshop - reading can induce an appetitie, don't you know? We snagged one of the little tables and went for alternatives to the disappointingly absent carrot cake. We chose the intriguing courgette and lemon curd cake as well as the mixed berry cheesecake The courgette and lemon curd cake was great - a subtle hint of courgette so as not to be too vegetabley but lovely and moist with more dominant lemon flavour. The mixed berry cheesecake was nice but more conventional Sharon was intrigued enough to try and recreate the courgette cake at home, always a sign of a good dish. Perhaps one day, Andrew and I may get the chance to try teh famous carrot cake

Really cool bookstore with a very unique selection of books everything from witchcraft and tarot to…read moreself help. I love bookstore row and this is a must see if you hit the spot!

Staff are helpful yet not intrusive or pushy. Excellent selection of a broad variety of topics of…read morebooks and tarot. Good selection of stones and if related collections as well. Fair prices!

We love bookstores, and especially those with travelguides only. If you can't find it, it probably…read moredoesn't exists. And it will probably be wiser to look for an other destination. Besides travelguides and maps they also sell themed novels and photo books, and funny books. They have a small assortiment of travel needs like plugs. In the cellar you'll find some globes. Beautiful but expensive. The store has two floors. Don't forget the cellar which houses the travelguides and maps, in alphabetic order by continent.

Among my top 2 specialist bookstores in London at the moment. (the other is the one at the Wellcome…read moreCollection premises) 3 floors of travel and London related books. Lonely Planet and DK EyeWitness are obviously all available, but they are just the tip of the iceberg among the selection available here. Other than the guides and maps, they have fiction and non-fiction from specific regions too and a sprinkling of cookbooks. Travel guides and travel accessories (toothbrush covers, walking sticks, waist pouches, games for kids to play when traveling - the range is vast) make up the bulk of the collections. Half the top floor is the frame-able maps and globes section. Very reasonable and loads to choose from. I also love their travel themed furniture - if only I could fit them into my pokey London apartment.... The staff is extremely helpful and not in the least bit pushy, so its always a pleasure to shop here. They often have a couple of discounts running and a few author signed copies. There are quite a few London themed souvenirs on offer that are much higher quality than the 2pound stuff available elsewhere. Its a great place to pop in for a respite or hunt for your next holiday trip. And there is a coffee shop - Sacred Cafe - on the premises if you want to give your feet a rest.

Brilliant. Yes please. Can I have some more like this, I loved every little bit about it…read more Essentially Persephone Bookshop is a front, a front for a funky publishing company who are hell-bent bringing out forgotten and obscure female novelists from the inter-war period, which I find to be a very good thing. Why? Because they are the most delightfully produced pieces of neo-eccentricity coming out of the book market today, and all with a story, and an interesting blurb. Obviously so soon after visiting, I'm not able to tell you that their books are any good, but I trust they are. I was met by a very well-spoken assistant who communicated her love of books so well. and the rest of this slender shop is devoted just to good books. Really good books. SO I was able to buy two, for a parent each. And felt smug and chuffed with my choices. Which is nice. Really well laid out and arranged, clearly the labour of love from the publisher to the shop, I had myself a very nice time in this lovely little bookshop!

A totally unique place - this isn't really just a bookshop, it's a concept and a mission as well…read more The idea is that it reprints forgotten books from the 20th century by mostly women writers - hence the name, Persephone - the ultimate in female fertility, the woman who could put every IVF doctor out of work by wrapping her legs around the earth from the gods. It's a cool concept, there are lots of reasons books go out of print and there are lots of reasons why some books take off and some don't. Not all sort the wheat from the chaff - lots of good ones slip through the big publisher's nets. Its ultra specialised admittedly but these people have passion and something from here can make a great present for someone with an interest in literature and this period.

We were walking around the Covent Garden when we spotted this shop. I am a big fan of Moomin, so I…read morewas delighted! We walked up the narrow staircase with excitement. The shop itself is rather small, so it was not easy to walk around with other people in the shop. They did have a good variety of items, from ornaments, clothes, bags, trays, books... Pretty much everything you can think of, they have it and more. The price point can be high, based on what you are looking for, but some items are rather affordable. We purchased the Moomin Comfort Food recipe book (LOL!!!), and can't wait to cook something out of that book! If you are a Moomin fan, it is worth checking it out!

If you're a Moomin fan, you'll love this store. I personally found the store to be smaller than I…read moreexpected, but the wide selection of books and merchandise and the theming make up for it.

Hatchards is (at least the self-proclaimed) oldest book seller in London. It's a fantastic bookshop…read morewith 4 levels full of books. Perfectly sorted and organized by genre then author and title. There's a lot of great signed and first editions as well. Some rare and hard to find books. Prices are fair, service is friendly, all in all it's one of the nicest bookshops I've ever been in. I picked up some titles I haven't found in shops here in the states, especially those special printings. I requested they stamp my purchases with a shop stamp so I will always remember I bought these titles at the oldest London book shop!

This bookstore is really cool! The staff are neat and helpful. The book arrangements are fun and…read moreinviting. We ended up purchasing a book for my husband and some stationary that was themed. One said 'When the bard plays a banger on your birthday' and we cracked up at that one. It was a worthy buy. It was fun to walk around and just be near books. Thanks for having us!