Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Bookstores I Visited In London (& Paris)

In September I went to England, y'all! It was probably the most surreal vacation I have ever taken. I kept turning to my sister and we'd both ask each other: "Are we really here?" I guess that happens when lifelong dreams come true.

We stayed in London and took two day trips, one to Oxford and a second one to Paris. But let's talk about the bookstores I visited.

photographs & collage by me
Daunt Books — https://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/
The first bookstore I visited was Daunt Books near Baker Street and the land where everything is named after Sherlock Holmes. The store specializes in travel books but also has a solid collection of other genres— especially Vintage Classics and a whole shelf of beautifully vintage looking Agatha Christie reprints. If money and suitcase space was no object, I would have had a field day. I resigned myself to just purchasing the Vintage Classics edition of Persuasion by Jane Austen. Though I was sorely tempted by that cover for The Great Gatsby. Be still my cover loving heart.

photographs & collage by me
Shakespeare and Company — https://shakespeareandcompany.com/
During my day trip to Paris, I visited this iconic bookstore that has been on my bucket list ever since I first learned about it in a picture book about Paris when I was little. It is just how you imagine a bookshop in Paris should be. Narrow passages and a winding staircase leading to an upstairs filled with more books. Sadly, photography isn't allowed inside. I did not actually buy a book here (shocking, I know, but I wanted to ensure I had enough money for food), so I bought a tote bag instead. Must say I do not regret buying that tote bag. Best purchase ever. (Side note: London is like California. Grocery stores expect you to bring your own grocery bag.)

photograph & collage by me
Blackwell's Bookshop, Oxford —  http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/bookshop/home
I ended my day trip to Oxford by visiting this massive bookstore and purchasing a Penguin Little Black Classics edition of Lady Susan by Jane Austen. Browsing through all those gloriously gorgeous British covers could very easily have become a new hobby for me. It was such a treat to be able to see them in person instead of browsing through them on Book Depository or Instagram.

photographs & collage by me
Charing Cross Road —
Like every sensible human being who has read 84, Charing Cross Road I made a pilgrimage to that beautiful street— and stumbled my way through London Fashion Week while doing so. While, horror of horrors, I was too pressed for time to find that famed address, I did get to visit two still open secondhand bookstores on the street: Any Amount of Books and Quinto & Francis Edwards Booksellers. I acquired a vintage edition of Georgette Hyer's The Grand Sophy at Any Amount of Books for only a pound! They were having a basement sale where everything was one pound.

Have any of you been to these bookstores or cities? What are some of the bookstores you have visited on your travels?

4 comments :

  1. That sounds so fun! Daunt Books and Shakespeare and Co. are both very high on the list of bookstores I want to go to some day. I agree about the British book covers: with some exceptions, they're almost always prettier than the same book in America.

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    Replies
    1. I have a feeling Shakespeare and Co. is the bookstore of your dreams. It is the atmospheric type of bookshop you always imagine being in Paris.

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  2. Wow, what an amazing trip! All the bookshops sound amazing. :)

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