Bookshops 1.1

This isn't the best photograph that I have ever taken and it also doesn't do justice to the cavernous space of Foyles bookshop but I did promise an indoors image for my Bookshops series of posts. This is an appendix to my first post of the series. I love wandering around this shop, especially the General Fiction, some of which (F-H) are shown above, along with the Graphic Novel section and some great display tables; the table directly facing the camera currently hosts a lovely selection of Pushkin Press texts, which I had never paid much attention to before.


Around the corner, display bookshelves can be found including this one. The rainbow table was the inspiration for my bookshelves of many colours series and this has moved to a bookcase. I think that striking and creative displays in bookshops are an inventive use of resources and excites me as a book buyer. Do you find that interesting displays -tables, shelves, or gondolas by colour, prize-winners, or setting- are more likely to attract you to a book and make you more inclined to buy it?

A Little Tea & A Little Chat at Persephone Books

Serendipitously both Darlene and I today have written about having tea at Persephone Books. Where Darlene was lucky enough to attend one of the shop's book chats, I was visiting to collect the prize copies that Persephone so very kindly offered Verity and I for this week's give-aways.

Last month I popped in on my way home from a job interview and spent a couple of hours in the pleasant and wonderfully welcoming company of Nicola and Lydia. Imagine my disappointment though when I first arrived to find the door locked! Lydia had to go to the loo, you see, which I promptly forgave her for. My first stop was the basement where I was in Persephone lover heaven to see all the titles stacked up and the wonderful bookcase of slightly damaged copies. If I hadn't been wearing a suit, I would have plopped myself down in front of them, amongst dust and some cobwebs (Lydia warned me of spiders), and meticulously chose copies but as it was I chose at random whilst Lydia kindly carried a box of Good Evening, Mrs Craven upstairs and put them in a lovely jute bag. As well as thanking Persephone for their generosity, I would also like to take the opportunity to express my wonder at their customer service and quality of book provided: I have bought or been sent new books in worse condition from other booksellers than the ones supplied for prize copies but Persephone are unwilling to sell anything less than pristine, which is admirable.

Whilst waiting for Nicola, who was on her way, Lydia and I discussed our mutual Master's degrees as it transpired that we had both done similar courses at different Universities and then the Booker longlist as it had been announced the previous day (Lydia, like me, was most excited about The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds), leading to a longer conversation about The Little Stranger, which Sarah Waters had sent as a gift to the shop, as she is a huge admirer, and which Nicola later said I was welcome to borrow if I hadn't read. Following Nicola's arrival and settling down to Elevenses (Nicola, I was charmed to notice drank from a Nancy Mitford, Pursuit of Love Penguin Classics mug) we engaged in some general literary chat, as well as discussion covering blogging and Verity's and my challenge, Simon at Stuck in a Book who is thought of highly (and rightly so), my career goals, and publishing.

The literary chat was fascinating and, in my opinion, you would be hard-pushed to find someone as enthused and passionate about literature and the book industry as Nicola Beauman. We spoke of The Group by Mary McCarthy which I had recently read and loved. I told Nicola that I thought it should be a Persephone and she is of the same mind but, regretfully, she was unable to obtain the publishing rights to it. Interestingly, the Persephone title that took the longest to obtain the rights to was The Wise Virgins by Leonard Woolf and she would also love to possess the rights to The Expendable Man within the United States.

We also touched upon Stella Gibbons and the possibility of Persephone publishing one of her titles but Nicola told me honestly that she hasn't found a book that challenge Cold Comfort Farm. Indeed the vision of Persephone is to publish wonderful books because, as a reader, Nicola only wants to publish wonderful books.

The new Bloomsbury Group project was covered as was the original and beautiful cover art of Virago Modern Classics; the Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury, Alexandra Pringle, began her career in Virago editing and choosing the artwork for those iconic covers. Nicola also told me about this article, at that time forthcoming, and enthusiastically recommended the novel Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig.

Another highlight to my shop visit was spying the reproduction endpapers for the new books (forthcoming - Oct 22nd) which, of course, are typically beautiful.

I was struck by how friendly, welcoming, and warm both Nicola and Lydia were and not just to me but to their customers. The customer service is fabulous and their passion for books is apparent as they happily discuss non-Persephone titles with visitors to the shop.

There is definitely an endearing quality to the shop as well as to the imprints. India Knight describes Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Making of a Marchioness as "bed books", along with beloved classics I Capture the Castle, Pride and Prejudice, My Cousin Rachel, the Anne of Green Gables books and everything written by Nancy Mitford (The Shops p. 108). I love "bed books" and the indulgence of comfort reads and fairy tales for grown-ups but there is also a lot of substance amongst Persephone Books, some of which we have seen this week.

I spent a lovely morning at Persephone having tea and I am only sad that Verity wasn't there to join me.

I had to include in this post the beautiful artist's reproduction of the shop by David Gentleman as it is one of my favourites.

Bookshops III

My third post in my Bookshops series is appropriate for Persephone Reading Week as it is Persephone Books. The Lamb's Conduit Street shop and office is one of my favourite places -not just shops or bookshops- to visit in London, not least because I emerge each time with at least one beautiful Persephone clutched to my chest. Lamb's Conduit Street is an ambient, Parisian-like street with lovely boutiques, delis. and restaurants in Bloomsbury, London, and is definitely worth a visit, not simply for the wonder that is this bookshop.

As you can see from the photograph above (apologies for the reflection but it is impossible to avoid), the door is open and welcoming and the hanging basket you see contains the Persephone catalogue and Bi-annually for you to pick up as you enter, exit, or walk by. The shop is cosy and lovely; also the main office it has a sense of bustle but also of homeliness. Light and breezy (the back door is open to the garden), Persephone Books is such a pleasure to spend time in with lots of flowers scattered around and beautifully framed posters, paintings, and fabrics on the walls to delight and engage those who browse. It is such an informal, friendly atmosphere with Nicola and Lydia engaging with customers and enthusing about books in general, not just Persephones. On occasions where Nicola (Beauman, Persephone's founder) needs to pop out quickly to one of the neighbouring shops to pick up lunch or a coffee, she will leave the shop momentarily in the hands of the customers; that is the type of bookshop Persephone Books is.

In The Shops by India Knight, she declares, "oh, the bliss of Persephone Books!" (p. 46) and the shop really is blissful. From the bookcase facing the door (seen in the photograph) the books are arranged clock-wise in order of the books' position in the catalogue. Beside each individual stack of a title are the free accompanying bookmarks (which match that particular Persephone's endpaper) and another stack of prettily tissue-wrapped copies of the book. The books are so elegant and sophisticated in appearance with one book standing open above the pile so that the colourful and beautiful end-papers are on display too, adding a vibrancy to the shop as they contrast with the pretty dove-grey.

Persephones do make wonderful gifts and I have both given and received them. The Persephone website (where the bulk of their business is conducted via mail-order worldwide) has this indispensable guide to the giving the perfect present. In her presents section from the book linked to above, India Knight says the best presents for mums are "Books from Persephone, particularly Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" (p. 194) and how true! Recently I was speaking to someone who purchased twenty Persephone titles as a wedding gift for a dear friend; lucky friend... although I wonder how the groom felt. As a result, I daydreamed about one day having Persephone title Cheerful Weather for the Wedding as a wedding favour for the guests but perhaps it isn't that fair to impose my addicition onto everybody else.

Later today I will be posting about my most recent visit to Persephone Books.

Bookshops II

Last week saw the launch of my blog series on favourite bookshops (interior photographs of the first to feature are forthcoming). For my second post in this series, I would like to share the independent bookshop I mentioned at the close of last month's Book-centric Memories post. Last year during a visit to Florida for three weeks, the middle week of which we spent in Sarasota on the Gulf Coast, I came across Sarasota News and Books on Main Street. Also a cafe with tables outside, this foliage-covered store was an instant hit and in one week I visited three times and would have more if it had been within walking distance from our apartment. I sampled (all in the nature of market research, of course) the bookstore, the newsstand, and the cafe stocking up on American editions of books (one that I was looking for, that was out of print in the UK), magazines that aren't available here or that are imported at an escalated price, and key lime pie at the cafe.

This is definitely a book lover's paradise and, open until late, it was a sociable hub; I imagine that the welcome air-conditioning helps in the intense humidity. My visit after dinner one evening was my favourite wander and the free bookmarks they give with their books contributed to my return. It had a reasonably good selection of books to choose from for a relatively small shop (it's on one floor) and browsing the books kept me as intently occupied as any of the bigger chains did during my visit (Borders was no different from here at home and Barnes & Noble had a fabulous range of notebooks and bookmarks but the books themselves left me a little cold as the overall layout reminded me of a warehouse). I only hope that next time I visit Sarasota that Sarasota News and Books is still thriving and that I can while away some hours in contented, air-conditioned bliss.

Bookshops I

In addition to my Book-centric Memories and my technicolour bookshelves posts, I also plan to periodically post about bookshops that I visit or have in the past visited that have made a profound (or at the very least, extremely pleasurable) impression. Now, to be fair, I am a bibliophile and a fold-down table with a handful of secondhand books at the end of the street is bound to excite me but you know the bookshops I mean... the ones where you could happily lose myself for hours.

Foyles on Charing Cross Road in London (not at number 84 but at 113-119) is one such bookshop and I actually did manage to become lost when I first visited (you will find the memory of what I bought on that visit in the penultimate paragraph of this post). Foyles is spread over four floors and has nooks and crannies aplenty; walking through it you have the sense that you wandering from room to room in a rather large library.

Foyles is a family-owned bookshop that has retained its private independence since 1903 (the store has survived in its location from 1906) and has only recently branched across central London; Charing Cross Road remains its flagship store and is the one with extensive character. To mark its centenary this Foyles was extensively refurbished, although it is still renowned for its legendary chit system; the neon red signs gracing the building are gaudy but fitting with its Soho locale.

My bookgroup meets here, which is only apt, but then we move on to somewhere that serves dinner. Many a book has been bought there; when I have house-guests I take them to Foyles; I even worked there temporarily last Christmas (a bookselling experience was a dream come true and it did not deter me from frequenting the shop afterwards). If you are ever in London then please take the time to visit and peruse all of the lovely books and unique shelf and table displays. I judge the quality of their displays on how many books I notice and want to buy whilst I am there. Foyles is supportive of the small, independent publisher and there are often displays of beautiful books that you may not have come across before; it is definitely a book lover's paradise.

Do you have a favourite bookshop to while away the time in? What do you love about it that makes you go back time after time?

Even More Recent Acquisitions...

After reading of Kimbofo's success at the Borders closing down sale I thought I would visit and see what I could find. I have no business buying new books just now, I really can't afford it, but who can resist 50% off everything? Borders itself isn't closing (although I think it has just been bought over again) but they are closing five stores including the prime retail spot of Oxford Street, London, which doesn't bode well for the company really but rent of £1.9 million per year was probably a deciding factor. It fills me with sadness to see any bookshop closing but I would be more upset if it had been an independent one. However, I would have been devastated if it had been the Glasgow branch of Borders as it is a heavenly converted bank full of books, a welcome haven, and the receptacle of many fond memories.

Anyway, I made it to Borders this week before everything had disappeared and restrained myself some. If I were more financially solvent at the moment I would have stocked up on several future reads and Christmas gifts for family and friends but as it was I scanned for favourite writers (of which I have most of their books anyway and found few) and only books that were on my wishlist as I couldn't justify any indulgences. I did, however, pounce on the only Persephone book that I spied: The Far Cry by Emma Smith and am delighted to have a brand new Persephone for only £5. I settled for only one of three Esther Freud books that I haven't yet read, opting for Peerless Flats but again couldn't justify any additional ones as I recently acquired Summer at Gaglow too. I also purchased The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks, which is a book that has been on my wish-list since last November. Lastly I could not leave one loan copy of Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels after an enthused Nymeth raved about it and the recent controversy that has ensued.

A wander to the bookshop

Today I wandered along to the bank to deposit a cheque and to our wee (and fabulous) grocery shop to pick up some fresh bread, a Mother's Day card and a bottle of vanilla essence. The highlight of the trip though was in between stops wandering into the local bookshop. Whenever I have a chance, I drop in; I'm not in the position (or even the inspired mood) to purchase anything at present but I like to support small businesses by making them look busy ... or so I tell myself.

Anyway, my local bookshop is shown on the left-hand side. No, I don't know why there is a giant "42" in the photograph or why the dog is fixated on it ... I can only imagine that the dog is querying 42 being the answer to the question.

It's always lovely to have a browse amongst the new titles, make a mental note of ones to add to the collection at a later date, and to scour the second-hand stacks for those telling green covers; nothing from my watch list today unfortunately - I may have had to raid the piggy bank if there was! I am also on the hunt for what I imagine will be an elusive green Virago copy of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, one of my favourite books, let alone Virago. Alas, I re-emerged empty-handed as I so often have of late but just now is not the time for buying books but for reading them.