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Two Unique Bookstores in Bloomsbury, London

March 10, 2011 in bookstore, graphic novels, used books by Kim | 4 comments

It’s easy to feel literary wandering around Bloomsbury, this is the area rooted in Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and their literary group actually named Bloomsbury.  If that isn’t enough, the British Museum and the University of London anchor the intellectual life.  Little bookstores pop up in unexpected places (see previous reviews London Review Bookshop and Bookmarks), two caught my attention:  Gosh! and Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop.

Gosh!

I’m not a comic book reader and don’t think I’ll ever evolve into a fan of graphic novels, but I know a good niche bookstore when I see one.  Gosh! was packed with people of all ages pouring over everything from mangas to graphic novels to collectible comic books.  The store opens into a room dedicated to current graphic novels, I was tempted by the classics in graphic novel form, but then wondered if reading one would be akin to reading the classics in the ‘young readers’ version, essentially killing the story.  Gosh! then meanders back into multi-story smaller rooms.  The collectible section was impressive, well organized and easy for find all those ancient Peanuts and Batman comic books.  If you love graphic novels, manga or comic books, this is your mecca.  My favorite aspect was the sign out front, simply the Batman insigna.  After seeing hundreds of old pub signs with illustrations from the days when people couldn’t read, I enjoyed this updated version.

Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop

All over England I noticed charity stores, in one city in Wales I counted three charity stores on one block.  However, I never saw huge block buildings dedicated to public storage.  I wonder if the two observations are linked.  In Bloomsbury, Oxfam opened a version of charity store, but dedicated solely to books.  Personally, I’ve only visited one such store in the US, Housing Works in NYC which gives all of its proceeds to AIDS work.  I would love to find more, not just sections of Goodwill for bookshelves, but entire used bookstores for charity.  Anyway, off my soap box, the Oxfam store had a wonderful selection of books.  My favorite was a section dedicated to the commuter, books or literary magazines that could be read in sections during a single commute.  There was a whole shelf dedicated to used Granta magazines at a fraction of the cost.  In addition to books the store offers notes/stationary/writing supplies produced by Oxfam.  What better way to buy a used book than to support a charity that fights poverty and injustice?

Gosh!

39 Great Russell St.

London WC1B 3NZ

T:  020-7636-1011

Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop

12 Bloomsbury St.

London WC1B 3QA

T:  0207-637-4610

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Trident Booksellers and Cafe – Boulder, CO

February 1, 2011 in bookstore, used books by Kim | No comments

Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado is a visual amusement park.  It’s an outdoor street mall that is lively even with snow on the ground.  There are people milling around, some playing music, some handing out leftist newspapers, some asking for money.  Unique storefronts mixed with chain stores that don’t feel quite as cookie cutter as they do in other cities.  Restaurants spill over with aromas and people sitting outside to eat, even when there is snow on the ground.  As an Angeleno, I like my snow best when experienced from a little distance, such as me someplace inside and cozy.  I think that’s what initially attracted me to Trident Booksellers and Cafe. From the outside, where I was cold trying to avoid the snow on the ground, I could see cafe tables scattered throughout the store among the bookshelves.  People were sitting with their coats off, sipping hot drinks, and chatting.  I could see the steam rising from the mugs.  I walked in.

Trident is cozy.  In contrast to the wonderful, but large, Boulder Book Store down the street, one could stand at one end of the store and carry on a conversation with a friend at the other end.  Yet it manages to pack a punch.   There is a nice sized fiction section, but in a used bookstore such as Trident, I like to trip upon gems and I find the hunting better in non-fiction.

Recently, I’ve taken an interest in the Armory Show in New York City in 1913.  It’s a pivotal point in the development of modern art in the United States.  I headed to the several bookshelves dedicated to art history and found two books about the modernism.  One a general survey of the topic, The First Moderns by William R. Everdell, and another focused on New York titled appropriately enough, New York Modern:  The Arts and the City by William B. Scott and Peter M. Rutkoff.  Both were well priced so I decided even if my luggage was so jammed I had to ship them home, they were worth the splurge.

Colorado topics are covered quite well from fiction to nature to history to touring.  Trident represents its community and surroundings.  I could have spent a lot more time examining the options in history, current events and biography.  There was an interesting selection of religious topics.  Several shelves dedicated to Buddhism with a selection of Christian writings also.  When I was paying, the bookseller asked where I was from (I think the fact that it was in the 40s and I was bundled for a blizzard signaled I was tourist) and what I did.  When I said I was from Los Angeles, he listed all the people in his life who used to live there.  I told him I was a spiritual director and he asked “what faith?”  Looking at the floor to ceiling shelf of books on Buddhism, thought ‘here we go’ and answered, “Christian.”  ”You know,” he said “this world would get a lot better if people lived the values of Christ, of sacrifice and caring for others.”  I told him I couldn’t agree more.

Trident Booksellers and Cafe

940 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO 80302

Tel:  303.443.3133

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BookBuyers Used Books and Media – Mountain View, CA

January 14, 2011 in bookstore, movie, music, used books by Kim | 1 comment

I have received several suggestions to visit and review BookBuyers; its customers love it!  I’m so glad my girlfriend,  Frances McClellan, visited and reported back:

Entering the spacious store from Castro Street in down town Mountain View, California one can quickly get lost sifting through the first rack one encounters on the right which is full of music CD’s.  Yes, music in an antiquarian bookstore.

BookBuyers Used Books and Media is not only an antiquarian bookseller and used bookstore, but also a deep catalogue music store as well. This is the place I travel too when I’m looking for a certain music title or paperback travel book at a reasonable price. The travel section not only has titles by recognized authors such as Bill Bryson and Tim Cahill, but also books written by the famous Jan Morris. I personally enjoy the full bookcase of travel guides where I can pick up a DK Guide to most any destination on Earth for a reasonable price.

Known for their broad Sci-fi and fantasy book collection, this store is frequented by many well-read and therefore well-entertained engineers in Silicon Valley. In addition to having readily available works by Douglas Adams of “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” fame they can always locate that hard to find title one may be desperate to reread.

On the antiquarian front, Read the rest of this entry »

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One Stroll Down Madoc Street, Three Bookstores

November 12, 2010 in bookstore, essay, travel, used books by Kim | 1 comment

Where is Madoc Street?  In Llandudno, of course.  Don’t ask me how to pronounce that name, I really think the Welsh just throw in consonants willy-nilly to confuse English speakers. We used Victorian seaside town of Llandudno for our Northern Wales home base for three days.  It’s a beautiful area of the world, gorgeous coastline, beautiful mountains, and a castle around every corner.  One day the boys went golfing on a genuine ‘links’ course, and the girls, Kelsey and me, shopped and ate our way through the town.   After stuffing ourselves at the Albert Pub and vowing to never eat at another restaurant in Llandudno, we started back to the hotel and tripped over three bookstores.

Siop Lyfrau Lewis Bookshop - Only marginally organized by genre, this store is a delight for those who love to sort through stacks of books to find a gem.  Books are in a variety of conditions, some are pristine, others not so much.  It’s really a treasure hunt type of store, it may be frustrating to dash in for a specific book, but perfect for good search.  The books were cheaper than the going rates at Hay-on-Wye.  I found Essays at Large by Solomon Eagle, the title reminded me of one of my favorite books, At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman.  For all I know her title is related to Eagle.  If so, then the circle is complete because I bought his book in tribute to her.  Plus, the title of the first essay is “Reading in Bed,” a favorite activity.  Lord of the Flies was Kelsey’s required reading for the summer and we couldn’t find it in any of the Hay-on-Wye bookstores, but here, buried under a three foot stack of books, was a gold embossed edition.  After successfully retrieving it without collapsing the tower of books on top of it, Kelsey wondered about it’s ‘cool factor.’  Is it better to have the paperback everyone will be reading or something different?  I told her what I wish I understood at 13, it’s all about attitude.  Mark it up to look well-read and thought over, then carry it with confidence.

There is a relatively large selection of Welsh books and cards.  We bought a card that says “Happy Birthday” in Welsh, at least we think that’s what it says.  Oh well, the recipient won’t know any better either.  [Address:  21 Madoc St, Llandudno, Conway, UK  Tel:  01492 877 7000]

Madoc Books – This is a stunningly beautiful store, practically an art gallery of books.  It’s an antiquarian shop containing rows of shelves each filled with neatly placed and tagged leather bound books.  I walked through enjoying running my hands over the books.  While there was a smattering of literature, the focus was on history, natural history, travel, topography, religion, most with an emphasis on Wales.  There are choices in English and Welsh.  The books are pricey.  This store is for the collector or people like me, the voyeur.

There is “best” list for everything in Great Britain, one day we were fortunate to visit the “best loo in Great Britain” and while it was quite nice, as bathrooms go, we found it humorous that such an award existed. Kelsey patiently waited for me to meander around the store Read the rest of this entry »

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Hay-on-Wye Part 4: A Few Passing Observations

October 21, 2010 in bookstore, used books by Kim | No comments

Visiting a town of bookstores as a group could be a frustrating experience especially if one person, me, wanted to stay longer in a particular store than the others, meaning the rest of my family.  To avoid irritation, I gave everyone a list of different books to search for and we went our separate ways.  To close my Hay-on-Wye mini-series (here are the links to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3), here’s a snapshot of some of the bookstores we dashed into:

My Favorite Bookseller Quote at Addyman Books – Looking through their orange wall of paperback Penguins, I overheard the bookseller complaining about the bakery charging £3 for a bun (meaning a roll in American) that was advertised as ‘baked with love.’  She said “would you pay more for a book if I posted signs saying ‘shelved with love?’”  At which point her partner indicated a group of books and said to the customers in the store  ”watch out for that bit over there, it was shelved in anger.”  We all busted up laughing.  By the way, the store has an excellent selection of sport books (cricket, football, rugby, and equestrian, not the usual USA fare) and the arts (pictorial, film, TV, radio, classical music).

Favorite Bookstore Location – Passageway Books is exactly that, an alley way between two buildings with a locking gate on each end and bookshelves lining both sides of the little snickelway.  The outside walls of the two buildings are the ‘inside’ walls of this little store.  There is barely enough room for two people to pass each other.  The bookseller stands outside chatting all Read the rest of this entry »

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