I've lived in London since I was born, so I'm reasonably well-accustomed with the places to go when shopping for specific things. If I was a musician and wanted to buy a new guitar or saxophone, I'm pretty sure Denmark Street would sort me out. If I wanted to buy a tailored man's suit.. which, you know.. I might want to do, I'd probably head over to Saville Row. As with any modern city, you can probably find most of these things in lots of places but, for me, if you're on the lookout for second hand books in Central London, it's got to be, and has been for generations, Charing Cross Road. At the north end you will find the Foyles flagship store and one of the few remaining Blackwells. South of Shaftesbury Avenue, though, you will walk past bookshop after bookshop filled to the brim with second-hand reads.
I went for a walk along Charing Cross Road this weekend. There's something really lovely about walking down a street filled with shops that have been trading for years and years but in any other case, the stock will have changed significantly. With books, second hand ones in particular, new ones may come in and old ones may be bought, but there will still be books, whether the originals or new editions of old titles, that are still filling the same shelves and will, hopefully, continue to do so.
Everyone is guilty of buying a book online instead of in the shop, but a trip down Charing Cross Road is all you need to remind yourself that bookshops are just way more fun than amazon. You can browse easier and they smell. so. good. I did learn recently that some people don't smell books. I found it odd to find that I myself was the unusual person, but if you don't smell books, I recommend you start doing it. That's my weird tip of the day...
Other second hand bookshops you may wants to try:
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