Run your fingers down these spines...
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Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin. London is bound by literary classics – even our tube drivers have traded in 'mind the gap' for Macbeth. What the Dickens are we on about? Bookmark this Weekly as we worm our way through London's best bookstores. Cosy up, it'll be a real page turner.
Adam S slips between the sheets at London's book-topia: "Foyles is the perfect bridge between the independent book store you can get lost in and those big old heartless chains." With long oak galleries and welcoming skylights, Daunt Books sparks Thomas A's academic fervor: "It's really an inspiring place... it actually made me want to read something." Cindy D reeeally loves the books at London Review Bookshop. "Is there a term for having a book fetish? I'm not talking bibliophilia – I'm talking about opening up books, taking a big whiff, stroking spines lovingly, maybe even casting a shy sidelong glance whilst batting eyelids and whispering, do you come here often?" Steamy sequel to follow...
Seeking something off the beaten page? Aromy X gets graphic at Gosh Comics. "The walls are literally covered from floor to ceiling in comics, with tons of translations, plenty of zines, and even lots of manga that I have yet to see anywhere else!" Clarissa D focuses her elemental energies at Watkins Books, "an esoteric book temple. They carry new and used books on all types of spiritual subjects, from Buddhism, Wicca, and astrology to I-Ching and more." Books for Cooks "is bad news," begins Larissa D, "and by 'bad news' I mean 'amazing.' It is to home cooks what an enabler is to people with crack habits."
Can't afford new books? Becky F accesses the ultimate collection at The British Library. "It has every book ever published in England." Dean B was similarly "gobsmacked by the sheer scale of the Senate House Library. You'll come across a person wizened with age and wonder: Do they work here, were they once students who have become lost in the vast literary labyrinth? Who knows!" Teresa L adores Oxfam's recycled reads. "Admittedly it smells a little funky, but it's a wonderful place for browsing and discovering cheap reads." Finally, Sam F freely peruses the day away at Treadwells. "Under normal circumstances I'd feel a little pressured or guilty, but thanks to a sign reading 'Browsers welcome: it's an all too lost practice,' it was a pleasure." Now that's something to read Joyce about!
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