Bookish geekery

I've spent a solid 5 hours reading this evening. What a pleasure*. Thanks to all my books still being packed up (no sodding shelves yet in the gritty penthouse) I have been panic buying new ones to make sure I've got enough to see me through to whenever it is that my builders are kind enough to start work on the flat and I can finally install bookcases all over the place.

I love bookshops. Today I decided to head to Foyles, first the surprisingly well-stocked one on the Southbank, where I was for a delightful solo lunch and think; and from there I walked over Hungerford Bridge (another London winner) and up to the original Charing Cross branch. I like it a lot in there, and the cafe is brilliant, playing jazz and making you feel rather pleased with yourself for knowing it exists, and that you're not in the Borders across the road, which the cafe overlooks.
The hot competition for Foyles in my books (ha ha) is the huge Waterstones on Piccadilly. I spent 23 years not knowing it existed, and the last 7 making up for this loss. I love the sofas they've dotted around the store, just inviting you to browse. I love the beautiful and original art deco staircase. I love the staff who are not only passionate about their stuff, but also quite funny too. Again, the 5th floor bar is a super find, and one of my favourite places to hide away with books or girlfriends. Once the guy sitting next to me and K was forced to interrupt our conversation to offer a male perspective (he was pretending to read a book but clearly we were providing more entertainment with a particular dilemma K was facing).

Lots of people go on about the importance of independent bookshops, so maybe I am guilty of selling out to big chains like Waterstones. Vauxhall sadly doesn't appear to have much of a market for such things (yet). London's favourite in this category seems to be Daunt Books in Marylebone, which I do like but somehow feels a little contrived. My two top local bookshops were both in Camberwell when I lived there, but sadly they (and a third one) have apparently closed down. Boo to that.



* for me, anyway. Book of choice was Anthropologists and Anthropology. Better than it sounds.