What is your favorite bookstore in London?

My hands-down favorite is Hatchards.

Second vote for Hatchards. I collect signed first edition books and there is nothing to compare with it for all round books.
For sports books, the best is SportPages just off Charing Cross Road.

Actually, I meant to add Hatchards to my list as well. That was the first bookstore I went to in London. Great store.

Murder One


Keith

Stanfords and Murder One- both without doubt

(Politicos is pretty good too)

I used to like the one near UCL/Tottenham Crt. Rd. called Dillons - it is now a Waterstones, has millions of floors, and every book!

Double ditto for Hatchards. I like Waterstones for the Brit equivalent of Borders. Very pleasant. I also like Zwemmers for photography and graphic designs (2 shops on Charring X Rd).

For Foyles I say bleh. I want to like it but have always found it unfathomable.

If you want photography and art books, Magma in Covent Gdn. or Farringdon have a super selection of "coffee table books".

It was a sad day here in Boston when Waterstones went out of business. the stacks were mostly empty, when the last guest reader, Peter Mayle read from his book. Recently, we lost Victor Hugo, (new and used) and Grolier(strictly poetry) The internet and real estate rents are driving out all our bookstores bookstores.
You've got to respect London for not losing theirs.

I can't believe no one has mentioned
G. Heywood Hill (10 Curzon Street W1)!
This is a real book-lover's bookstore. Has
been written about profusely. Very personal
and intimate. Both new and used. Extremely personal selection, and a very
lovely children's section with unusual and
charming hard-covered choices. Established in 1936, and a very special place!

Another vote for Hatchard's. The last time I was there, I had spent about an hour happily browsing downstairs, went upstairs to pay for my books and leave, only to discover there was a raging rainstorm going on outside. Well, what else could I do but carry on browsing until the rain let up? Best-timed storm I've ever experienced.

My second choice would be the bookstore in the British Library, which doesn't have anything like the ambience of Hatchard's, but has a great selection considering what a small space it occupies.

Personal favorites: Is it Dillons or Waterstones at Trafalger? Same difference. Maybe it's the coffee shop I like. Hatchard's although their history selection is limited. Foyles is good if a bit claustiphobic. The best has to be Blackwell's in Oxford. Where is Murder One ?

MK2 - Thank you for the mention of Magma - I have several "coffee table books". They make nice gifts as well. I had some nice deals at Dillons.

Boonie - I will definitely pay a visit to G.Heywood Hill later this year. Thank you.

Cigalechanta - It is a sad day indeed when a bookstore goes out of business. There was a store here in Del Mar (Northern San Diego County) - Esmeralda Books that I had been meaning to visit for some time. I finally got there and found an intimate well designed bookstore that reminded me of a nice home library. I put my name on their mailing list and 2 months later got an e-mail that they were going out of buisness! I support independent bookstores whenever I can.

I like Foyles because they have a very good travel literature section - row after row of travel books. Quite a few authors, of course, that you would not see here in the States. I enjoyed Peter Moore's book Swahili for the Broken-Hearted about his travels in Africa.

Books for Cooks in Blenheim Crescent; a must for any cook! (in fact, I think the Travel Bookshop is opposite).
Where is Murder One?

Yes, please tell us where Murder One is? I remember reading about it before, but I don't think I got the address then either.

Please, please, give us the address.

Tulips, lyb

I just pulled out my copy of Book Lovers' London and Murder One, New Worlds and Heartlines is at 71-73 Charing Cross Road. Nearest tube - Leicester Square. The writeup says they have a free mailing list, a noticeboard with book reviews and book signings and readings.

rj007,

Thank you!!! one more place added on my list to visit on my upcoming trip! Some of the people think I'm a little nutty because one of the things I'm looking forward to and planning time for is to go to several of the bookstores in London! And I love Murder mysteries, so I'm very excited about Murder One!

Thanks again!

lyb

You're quite welcome! I do the same thing, so I don't think you are nutty at all. I love London's bookstores. At the Travel Bookshop in Notting Hill which is very small - I spent 2 hours one Sunday afternoon last Nov. (then I found out they are open on Sundays just every now and then).

At my local bookstore today, I bought 2 more guidebooks for London (I don't know how many I have!). One was for daytrips out of London and the other was walks in London. Just glancing thru them, I found out Mozart's house is just a short walk from Leicester Square!
All my visits there and I just found out today! Things like that and all the wonderful sights and bookstores will keep me coming back to London for the rest of my life. Can't wait to get back!

I haven't been to London yet, so I'm really planning for it. But even in homogeneous Borders, I can spend hours and more $ than I should. Having to pack and carry the books back might keep me somewhat in control this time.

You are in for a good time. Even after 7 visits to London, I feel I have barely scratched the surface of this great city. I have no problem spending hours in a bookstore either. It would be best to carry your books you buy home. The cost to mail books from Europe to the States is very expensive. I remember in Dublin last year I had selected several books and found out it would cost more to mail them home than it would be to buy all the books. I put 2 back and carried 3 home.

What I do in the bookstores over there is to make a list of books that look interesting. Of course, the list is long and I add it to my book want list which is growing steadily.

These all sound wonderful....but I am wondering why no one has at least mentioned the LARGE chain WHSMITH!
They are everywhere, on "every corner", and the larger ones are very comprehensive!!! May not be as "upscale" as those mentioned, but one can put it lots of time in a WHSmith, just as one can in any bookstore. AND there is no snobbery involved...just down to earth.

Hatchard's not only has everything, but is lovely to spend time in--that staircase invites you to go up and explore more...I agree that the British library stoer is worth a look too.

I like WH Smith as well. In some parts of London they are the only bookstore in the neighborhood. (around 47 locations). They have marked some books down so you can save some money.

rj007 - I knew the Esmerelda bookstore quite well. Sounds like we might be neighbors.

BTW - I am a Foyles gal. Love their literature section. Spent many cold winter days there as a student.

What on earth is the attraction of Hatchard's?

Hatchard's is simply a small, expensive, relatively poorly run, branch in the Waterstone's chain. But it charges extra so that gullible people can think they're buying their books where the Queen does.

The real Waterstone's a few yards down the road has a far wider selection, many at discount prices, in an atmosphere better geared to sitting and browsing, and is operated by much more knowledgeable staff. All in a stunning 1930s building.

Don't feed the excessive profits of the HMV group by overpaying in a shop that exists simply to rip off tourists and the semi-literate.

But for a really interesting shop, try Judd Books in Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury. Truly quirky collection, especially of back-catalogue paperback fiction, history, philosophy and religion. Most of it at really ridiculously low prices.

Calamari

I think we are neighbors as well. I couldn't believe it when Esmeralda closed. I had been wanting to get there for quite awhile, finally made it and that turned out to be my only visit!

I enjoyed the literature section at Foyle's - that and the travel lit and travel guides sections are my favorite areas of Foyles - just row after row of books. Great place to spend a cold winter evening.

Calamari

I forgot to mention I live in North Park (when I can't get away to London or Italy!)

For those looking for foreign language books and magazines in London try The European Bookshop at 5 Warwick Street or Grant and Gilbert(?)at 55 Great Marlborough Street. The European Bookshop is especially good for books in French.

I fell in love with Waterstone's - I think we made 4 visits during the 10 days I spent in London in March - and I KNOW I brought home way too many books (well over a dozen) just couldn't help myself!

I can spend hours in a bookstore (not to mention the $$$)!

For travel books (new and used) head to Daunt's Bookshop, 83 Marylebone High St. The travel section is housed in the upstairs balcony and there's a good children's department downstairs.