When my mother and I began planning our Europe trip, I added London to the itinerary entirely because I wanted to go shopping, primarily for books. Yes, I was looking forward to revisiting the city and, yes, I was hoping maybe to get to see some other bloggers but, let’s be honest, I went there to shop. I love many things about Canada but our book prices are quite high compared to other countries and I am always staggered by how cheap used books are in the UK. And, of course, I had to make my pilgrimage to Persephone Books for the first time.
There will be more detail on my London trip later this week – including my visit with Simon and Darlene – but I really couldn’t wait any longer to share the 15 books I picked up while I was there. This was probably a few more than I should really have got (this was quickly realised a few days later on Amsterdam public transit while buckling under my backpack’s weight) but limiting myself to even this many was a chore. For the first time in my life, I went into Waterstones and didn’t take advantage of the 3 for 2 deal. Weeks later, I can still hardly believe my restraint.
Bloomsbury Ballerina by Judith Mackrell – I’d been looking at this at the London Review Bookshop before I met up with Simon and, lo and behold, it was at the first used bookstore we visited. That, my friends, is what we call a sign.
The Little Ottleys by Ada Leverson – From the rather magnificent Notting Hill Book & Comic Exchange. I picked this up just because it was a mint condition Virago, skimmed and was delighted by the blurb, and then, belatedly, realised that I already have the first of the three books contained in this volume (Love’s Shadow). But three books are always better than one!
Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim – von Arnim is one of the first authors I look for works by when I’m in any bookstore and I was thrilled to find this novel in excellent condition at Ripping Yarns.
Love Always and The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans – classic airport purchases, bought when I realised that a) there was a sale on, b) I had pounds left and c) I was about to leave England without having bought any chick lit. Since Evans is one of the authors I can’t consistently find over here, in these went to my basket.
Bertie Plays the Blues by Alexander McCall Smith – I was inevitably going to buy this, so why not save my pennies and buy it in the UK (where it was made even cheaper by being discounted by £4 at Waterstones)?
Summer Half by Angela Thirkell – I loved this book when I read it over the summer, having got it out from the university library, and am thrilled to now have my own copy.
And then there are the lovely, dovegrey Persephones. Two of these, wonder of wonders, were picked up second-hand while the remaining six were bought at the shop (where I was very kindly given a free book bag with my purchase).
Operation Heartbreak by Duff Cooper – Simon spotted this one at the Notting Hill Book & Comic Exchange and passed it on to me, for which I was very grateful since it is one of the titles I had been planning to buy on this visit anyways!
Julian Grenfell by Nicholas Mosley – spotted at Skoob while trolling the biographies. There is nothing that grabs my attention quite like one of these distinctive covers.
And now the books picked up at the store:
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
Gardener’s Nightcap by Muriel Stuart
It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty by Judith Viorst
A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson
I didn’t get to visit every bookstore that I’d hoped to but, given how my bag was straining at the seams and how my bookshelves are bending in the middle, that’s probably for the best!
I am suffering extreme bookstore envy – added to the general trip envy! What a lovely copy of Summer Half, also one of my favorites. And I don’t know anything about that von Arnim title – I’ll have tolook for that one.
I’m so excited to have my own copy of Summer Half. I think I actually shrieked a little when I found it, before whipping out my arm to grab it off the shelf, acting like I was competing with dozens of other people for that one edition even though I was the only person in the aisle. Behaviour like this may be why my mother was afterwards terrified to go to any other bookstores with me!
Thanks to you, I now have an extra couple of bookshops to visit next time I’ll drive across the Channel. Thanks for the great ideas, as ever.
Glad to help! Simon and Rachel were the ones who guided me on where to go, so some of your thanks definitely belongs to them. I’m generally jealous of all Europeans for how close you all are together – a drive across the Channel for you, a nine hour flight for me!
Congratulations on your restraint in Waterstones. I’m not sure I would have been able to imitate you – I’m a compulsive book buyer!
Bloomsbury Ballerina is a wonderful book (and one of the best biographies I’ve ever read)!
I am actually usually quite restrained at book buying, so it wasn’t all that difficult, I must admit. I knew going over I wanted to buy 6 Persephones at the store and any used ones I came across, any von Arnims or Thirkells I didn’t already have, and Bertie Plays the Blues and I expected to pick up a couple of extras as they caught my fancy. So, really, I stuck quite close to the list!
So pleased to hear you liked Bloomsbury Ballerina. It sounds fascinating but I really hadn’t heard anything about it.
I love the idea of factoring in a visit to London to pick up some books 🙂 It must have been hard work carrying all of those around with you. I am intrigued by Bloomsbury Ballerina – as you know I love ballet books so I shall have to seek that one out.
I did buy a coat too, so my shopping wasn’t just for books. Just mostly 🙂
I’ll keep you updated on Bloomsbury Ballerina!
Oh Claire, don’t you wish we could browse the shops there at least once a month? I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on Miss Ranskill. Simon really enjoyed it and I wish now that I had picked up a copy. Next time!
I make myself laugh at the care I pack my books to come home. And, they go in my carry-on just in case a baggage handler at either airport should be lusting after my middlebrow fiction!
Oh, I wish it so much! Maybe I can manage once a year? I’d tried to order Miss Ranskill (on the strength of Simon’s enthusiasm) through Amazon last winter but after placing the order I got one of those charming “we are temporarily out of stock” emails, followed by many ‘we have no idea when we will have this book but we think we probably will one day’ emails. So I finally cancelled the order this July, went to the store and just bought it myself – if only that could always be my solution!
What a treasure trove you brought home with you, Claire. I would have considered that find a sign as well, though, I”ll admit, it doesn’t take much for me to consider a book sighting a find. I know that you will enjoy these, and we, as well, as you tell about them.
I’m so excited about this batch of books because, unusually for me, I’ve only read 2 of them. Generally, I only buy books after I’ve read them and am confident that I’ll want to reread them. Now, I’ve got 13 new titles to look forward to (well, actually, only 12 now since I read Bertie Plays the Blues quite soon after getting home)!
Ugh! As a Canadian currently living the U.S. I completely feel your anguish re: Canadian book prices. Even when the dollar is stronger in Canada or on par with the U.S. the books are always a good 3 or 4 dollars more which seems terribly unfair! This is one of the reasons I don’t feel all too bad about accruing a huge library while I live in the States and bringing it back to Canada with me. Yes it will mean lots of boxes, but I can only imagine how much all my books would have cost me if I had actually bought them back home!
It’s such an unfair difference! But as economical as it is for me to buy books when I’m down south at our place in California, I can’t bring myself to do it on a meaningful scale. I find the spelling differences so jarring!
You will never again be able to take advantage of the “3 for 2” offer in Waterstones as they have now axed that particular discounting scheme. There will still be offers to tempt you, I’m sure.
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to Europe. I’ve enjoying looking at some of the photos you have posted of places you visited.
I was thinking about how it was my last chance while I was there but, even so, I was somehow able to restrain myself!
How wonderful to have found so many gems, Claire! I’m so glad you managed to get to some of London’s bookshops. Having spent a year in America I know how shockingly expensive the books are – $16 for a paperback that would be 3 pounds at home? I was on the floor every time I dared pick something up in Barnes and Noble.
What a wonderful trip you had – I’ve been surreptitiously reading along at work but haven’t had a chance to comment. I’m so pleased that you had so many lovely and memorable experiences. So sad our paths didn’t cross in the end!
And just think, Rachel, if it’s $16 in the US it’s more like $20 or $22 in Canada, even when the dollar is at par or stronger! Bah, I say, bah. So, clearly, I’ll just need to keep coming back to the UK to do my book shopping, also giving us more opportunities to meet!
I think if I ever make it over, I will have to make shipments home ahead of myself! Sounds like a wonderful day — and a lovely haul. 🙂
I’m scared to think how much it would cost to ship home heavy boxes of books! But it would certainy be more convenient!
I love this post:) I’m addicted to buying books in London. I live in Poland and I organize a weekend outing to London every so often only so that I can but books. London bookshops are the best in the world, I love Notting Hill Book & Comic Exchange and I spent a few hours in their basement on my last trip there:) My other favourites are Oxfam Books near the British Museum, the Scoob, Judd Books near British Library, all the bookshops on Charing Cross Road… And I usually pay for additional luggage so as to be able to bring more books home;) But then of course I would also need to buy more bookshelves;) Your books are lovely and I think I’ll look for Angela Thirkell when I have the chance!
I had hoped to make it to Judd Books and to Charing Cross Road this trip but I wore myself out and called it quits after Persephone – definitely a high note to end my book buying binge! Still, that just means I have new places to discover next time I’m over when, following your example, I may have to splurge to pay for extra luggage coming home!
[…] number of bookstores, both new and used. And I don’t hide my priorities when I visit: I go to London to buy books, taking advantage of the amazing variety on offer and, to my Canadian eyes at least, the amazingly […]