London Bookshop Crawl 2018

This time last week the London Bookshop Crawl was just beginning. A weekend-long celebration of books and bookshops across London, there was event, guided bookshop crawls, book swaps and so much more with the dozens of bookshops taking part.

I only took part in the London Bookshop Crawl on the Saturday, but I still had an amazing time. I had gotten a ticket for the guided tour around Waterloo & Southbank and there I met fellow bookish people – both old (previous bookshop crawl participants I’d met on previous years) and new. The tour was led by Cathryn and she was very friendly and knowledgeable throughout the tour and brought a great energy to the group.

We met in Starbucks for coffee and sustenance, so we’d be ready for all the bookshops! Then it was off to Somerset House Bookshop. This shop was full of beautiful illustrated books, both for children and adults. There were so many cool books there, but I managed to restrain myself and just by the one – I Know a Woman by Kate Hodges and illustrated by Sarah Papworth. This book is all about famous and influential women throughout history and the connections they have with other women. I fell in love with the art style and how vibrant the illustrations are and I always like to learn more about women that history might have forgotten.

Next, we had a walk across to the other side of the Thames to go to the National Theatre Bookshop. Naturally, there were a lot of plays and books about drama and theatre criticism but there were also some more generally fiction books and some interesting gifts too.

Then we had a little bit of a walk to The Bookshop Theatre which had an eclectic mix of plays and political and philosophical theory books. It had a mixture of new and second-hand books which was nice. There I bought an illustrated Folio Society edition of Othello by Shakespeare. I’ve not read Othello before and know very little about it, but my best friend said she’s taught it for A-Level and both she and the kids in her class really enjoy it.

Just around the corner from The Bookshop Theatre (or least that’s how it felt to me) was Travelling Through… and this was my favourite new-to-me bookshop on the crawl. It’s got a great selection of books from around the world from international authors as well as some second-hand books and a cute café downstairs. The staff were very nice and friendly too. There I bought three books that will be perfect for my Read the World ProjectDust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuro my read for Kenya and actually a book I had my eye on before the bookshop crawl, everything else were impulse buys, Allah is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma, a book for Côte d’Ivoire, and So the Path Does Not Die by Pede Hollist which will probably be my read for Sierra Leone. I will definitely be visiting Travelling Through… again next time I’m in that part of London.

The next and final stop on the guided tour was to The Feminist Library – a place I would’ve loved to visit because it sounded like it stocks just my sort of books, but I was meeting the aforementioned best friend for a late lunch. I said goodbye to my fellow crawlers and vowed to go to The Feminist Library soon.

But I had time to visit one more bookshop as I was meeting my bestie at Daunt Books in Marleybone. I first visited Daunt on last years bookshop crawl and I have been back multiple times since, so as I was in London I just had to go there. In Daunt I bought two more books I could use for my Read the World Project, The Hotel Tito by Ivana Bodrožić, potentially my read for Croatia, and A Fortune Foretold by Agneta Pleijel, a book I first picked up because of the texture of the cover was so unusual and now it’s likely to be my pick for Sweden.

And that was me done for the London Bookshop Crawl 2018. Five bookshops, four of which were new to me, and seven shiny new books brought home. I had a wonderful time on the crawl, talking all things books and giving and receiving recommendations. My feet and shoulders (from a heavy backpack) were definitely sore by the time I got home but it was worth it.

This was the third year of the London bookshop crawl and I love how much it has grown in such a short space of time. If you’re interested in the bookshop crawl check out the website and there’s due to be two Summer Bookshop Crawls, one in York and another in Canterbury, so if you’re interested in either of them make sure you follow the Twitter account and sign up for updates via the website.

Until February 2019 and the next London Bookshop Crawl! I better get reading!

5 comments

  1. I was meant to go to this but I was super poorly, which was rubbish! Hopefully I’ll get to another one. I’m glad that you had a great time.

  2. Looks like you had a lot of fun. I didn’t even know before about the Somerset House Bookshop. Daunt Books is also one of my favourite bookshops – it is just so beautiful inside. I also absolutely love and recommend Stanfords bookshop with travel-related books in it. That place with its three floors is a paradise for me.

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