As the rain is absolutely pouring down, I'm pondering the way in which I buy books. I guess some people go to the same shops all the time. My partner prefers buying books (as well as CD's, software and pretty much everything else) on the internet. Some people will instinctively primarily go to Borders or some such high street chain.

For academic books, Waterstone's in Gower Street usually suffices, especially the second hand bit in the back.
Amazon is good if you are buying books for eg a reading list.
Otherwise I shop where I am; do I pass by Unsworths in Bloomsbury I will pop in, am I strolling the South Bank, the second hand market outside NFT is lovely.

Museum shops are useful. High street chain are perfectly capable unless you are looking for academic rareties. Book Warehouse is great to browse, if you have the time and patience - both these shops and the £2.00 shops are a bit hit and miss.

In Cambridge & Oxford, the University Presses must be visited - just for the hell of it.
British Library.
Daunt in Marylebone High Street for travel books. Book for Cooks...well...
The little, almost invisible bookshop opposite Farringdon station.

There's a bookshop for every occasion, for every mood, for every genre - London is great for books, everybody reads everywhere and somehow there seems to be great respect for books. Which is great. (Except perhaps for the quality of the English book - not the text, but the book - as opposed to the American?)


In other news:
Disgusting.
Exhilarating?
And just plain weird.

posted by charlotte at 19:07 - comment