I’ve written before on the Ramblings about my trips to the Big Smoke; I often pop up for exhibitions, meetings with friends and browsing the bookshops, and this is one of the regular joys in my life. I had a brief get-together with my BFF J. in September when I also had a meet up with Jacqui and Ali; however, we decided on a Winter meeting and had scheduled a day out for 30th November. The awful events of Friday night were just tragic; and Mr. Kaggsy was a bit nervous about me travelling to London on Saturday. But a. I refused to change my life because of horrible, evil people and b. I reckoned there would be lots of security over the weekend. So J. and I determined to enjoy our life and have our day out, and we did.
Travelling this weekend was a bit of a pain, anyway, because of rail replacements (WHY do the train companies do this on the weekends leading up to Christmas???? WHY????) So it was train-bus-train, which did limit the reading time (as I can’t read in buses or cars without getting queasy); however, I had the very wonderful Roland Barthes for company, and OMG what a wonderful book this is!!! 😀
After meeting up with J. our first port of call was the wonderful cafe at Foyles, for coffee and a shared vegan brownie – yum! 😀
We had a good chat and a catch up, before setting off to explore the Bookshops of Charing Cross Road (with a slight diversion into Cass Art and Cecil Court). After lunching at Leon in Tottenham Court Road, and spending some time in Tiger and Paperchase (stationery!!!), we ended the day with trips to Judd Books and Skoob, two of my favourite places which are so conveniently closely located! ;D I had an amazingly restrained day, all things considered, and only purchased four books:
Here’s a little more detail about what and where! The first purchase was this poetry collection from Any Amount of Books:
I don’t think I know anything specific about Szirtes, but I recognise his name and this is published by Bloodaxe (which is always the sign of good poetry). And the first poem is about Chet Baker, which gets my vote; so when a quick glance at some of the other verse really grabbed me, it was a definite purchase!
Next up, I was unlikely to get out of Foyles empty handed:
More John Berger – I cannot resist this prolific and rather wonderful author. This is a slim book of what appears to be poetic prose and again a quick glimpse grabbed me. I may have to end up with a dedicated Berger shelf…
Astonishingly, I got out of Judd Books without buying a Single Book! There *were* temptations, but I have several things on various Christmas lists so had to be quite careful about what I purchased today. However, our last minute nip to Skoob before heading off for a train was not so restrained:
The Baudelaire was a very exciting find, as I’ve wanted a copy of this for absolutely AGES! So I was over the moon to find this in the midst of very tempting shelves of black covered Penguin Classics. And I spotted the book about Tsvetaeva at the last minute and grabbed it. I’ve never seen or heard of it, and I have no idea if it’s any good – but it’s Tsvetaeva!! Not pictured is the copy of Brian Bilston’s “You Took the Last Bus Home” which I bought as a little gifty for J. – she loves Roger McGough, so I hope she will also love BB!
However, these were not the only books I came home with, as there was this which J. had sourced for me:
A new Beverley! I have a number of his works as Florin Books, and they’re awfully pretty – very exciting! There was also a big box containing birthday and Christmas gifts J. had brought for me, and I suspect there will be More Books involved. It was very heavy – she lugged it manfully around London all day, so well done her!
So we had a lovely day out in lovely London; I always adore visiting the city, even though they’re *still* tearing apart Soho and some of my favourite bits… 😦 There are still lots of wonderful bookshops if you know where to look (and I wish we hadn’t run out of time and had made it to the LRB shop…) What was interesting, too, was how often we gravitated towards the poetry sections of the various places, and in my case to a lot of non-fiction, essays and philosophy. However, I think J. actually ended up with more books than me, so the shops of London did quite well out of us. It was the perfect day – what could be better than bookshopping in a place you love with an old friend? 😀
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However…. this was not the end of the bookishness of the day… I arrived home cold but happy to find lovely book post from the wonderful FitzCarraldo Editions:
This looks and sounds fascinating, and had it been available earlier would have been a much more pleasant alternative to “Berlin Alexanderplatz” for German Lit Month!! ;D – though it’s not out until next month, so maybe not…
And finally! This has just appeared. Came across mention of it a couple of days ago (damned if I can remember where – my short term memory is now appalling) and when I checked online with various shops I was due to be visiting there was no stock (or I would have bought it in person). So it had to be an Internet purchase and it sounds most fascinating. It’s a good thing I’m so hooked by the Barthes, or I would be having a real crisis about what to read next! 😀
Dec 01, 2019 @ 13:40:59
What a lovely day! Although my nose is very put out of joint, because I was in London yesterday too (although much later in the afternoon). I made a special trip to St Paul’s to see the projection of the Blake painting on its dome though…
Dec 01, 2019 @ 13:58:02
Noooooooo! We’ll have to co-ordinate a get-together in the Spring!!! 😀
Dec 01, 2019 @ 13:51:01
Good for you Kaggsy – I’m glad you had such a fab time amongst the books and stationery of London. Those Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls are rather good, aren’t they! 😋
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:07:44
I did indeed have a lovely day – books and stationery are a good combination! And yes, I do love a Gregg’s vegan sausage roll – very yummy, particularly on a cold day! ;D
Dec 01, 2019 @ 15:00:30
What a lovely post! Enjoyed rambling with you and seeing your loot! I’m especially envious of the Baudelaire one. 😊
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:06:09
I was particularly pleased with the Baudelaire – I’ve been wanting a copy for ages (Baudelaire writing about Poe – heaven!!) In fact, Skoob had two copies, an older and a newer and it came down to type size in deciding whihc one to buy! 😀
Dec 01, 2019 @ 15:17:45
Lovely little book haul – Szirtes and Tsvetaeva! Always fun to read about your London (I almost wrote Big Apple) adventures.
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:05:10
A small but perfectly formed book haul, I think! Always lovely to visit London.
Dec 01, 2019 @ 16:01:11
It’s a little curious to feel you know some one, in this case you from this excellent blog, but not know if you bumped into them in the Bookshop.
I too was in London this weekend, arriving at the time of the London Bridge incident. And spent time in bookshops and came away with one book of poems: The Overhaul by Kathleen Jamie. And found time for one ballet and one opera and one Rembrandt at Kenwood. See you there another time soon, caroline
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:04:40
Well, you had a great visit by the sound of it. Wouldn’t it be funny if we’d been in the same bookshop at the same time!? I picked up a Jamie book recently – keen to read her.
Dec 01, 2019 @ 18:50:39
That sounds like a lovely day, you did right I think to carry on regardless. Though I understand Mr K’s nerves. You bought some great looking books. A new Beverly! You remind me that I have two or three unread BN books buried right at the back of my tbr bookcase where I struggle to get at them.
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:01:53
I was *very* pleased with my finds – and I think I was pretty restrained for me! Hope you can drat about the Beverleys – he’s such fun!
Dec 01, 2019 @ 19:32:42
Sounds like you had a wonderful day with plenty of temptation along the way! I so enjoyed our meet-up with Ali in September; maybe we could do it again sometime next year…
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:01:08
Definitely! We’ll have to drag Marina Sofia along too! 😀 I love trawling the London bookshops!
Dec 01, 2019 @ 20:46:48
I’m glad you had a lovely day.
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:55:30
Thank you! It was bookishly chilled and perfect! 😀
Dec 01, 2019 @ 22:33:57
That Bachelard came to my attention a few years ago and it’s been on my wish list for a while. Didn’t know of this edition, so will look into it
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:55:07
Superficial as I am, the fact that it was a pretty edition helped… But the contents sound fascinating too. Interestingly, Bachelard has just got a mention or two in Barthes’ “Mythologies” – I sense several bookish wormholes in the offing….!
Dec 01, 2019 @ 23:39:18
I love your posts about days out in London. Just so much fun. If it wasn’t so far away I’d be happy to run around bookstores with you and eat yummy food! Someone has to do it!
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:22:06
I wish you and Ollie lived just next door so we could pop out for shopping and food and dog walking! ;DD
Dec 03, 2019 @ 01:52:58
That would be fun. Everyone I know who hss similar interests to mine lives on the other side of the world! Haha
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:03:51
Awww. My bookish friends are not local either, but at least within reach via the train! 😀
Dec 02, 2019 @ 10:25:59
I was in London recently and went to an exhibition of small independent publishers. There I saw the fitzcarraldo stall, very striking with alternate blue and white covers (fiction/non-fiction). The one you bought looks like a possible Shiny review?!
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:20:37
The Fitzcarraldos are lovely! Not sure when I’ll get to this, but happy to consider covering their books for Shiny! ;D
Dec 02, 2019 @ 10:35:09
What a lovely day! Good buying, all on point and all necessary!
Dec 02, 2019 @ 11:20:08
Exactly! Nothing gratuitous, all essential and surprisingly restrained for me! 😀
Dec 02, 2019 @ 14:16:58
I too get sick if I read in buses or cars. Not in the underground or some trains.
I am proud of you for not changing your life because of evil. I did a ‘bit’ of the same. I left my daughter and friends at a place for jumping and climbing, and they crossed to a dinner. That same night, four teens in a car were assaulted by a shooter, who killed one of them. That was at 11:30is, -that’s late for Houston-. And the next day, I still drop the same group of girls at an outdoor mall, but at 8:00 pm to 9:30 (everything is shut at that time in this city without walking curves or outdoor night life.)
Super happy for your Baudelaire finding. I think I still have one of his books in Madrid, -he’s very popular in Spain, so I bet I can get him in Spanish translation-.
Proud also of your restraint. It’s good to walk without buying some times, and others it’s great to jump to the opportunity that presents itself.
Dec 02, 2019 @ 15:02:21
Thanks Silvia, and I admire you for continuing your life normally. I think it must be very hard when there are regular shootings. So far in this country the incidents are limited but it makes me despair of people learning to live together with tolerance.
And yes – I was restrained, and found the books I really *had* to have – so a successful trip all round! 😀
Dec 02, 2019 @ 22:51:40
It’s difficult, yes. I don’t mean to imply that some shootings are random and happen upon innocent people, but others are gang related, or targeted, and I hope they won’t affect us, and yet it’s still unsettling to know they happen so close to us all.
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:04:32
It must be. We’re seeing a gradual increase of the gang influence locally, and it *is* unsettling as you say.
Dec 02, 2019 @ 22:52:15
Aren’t, not are. Sorry.
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:03:59
🙂
Dec 03, 2019 @ 02:55:59
So happy you are discovering Bachelard. It is so beautiful, I totally fell in love with it decades ago, when I was 17 – my philosophy year in France (= last year of high school)
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:03:18
It sounds fascinating – can’t wait to read it!
Dec 04, 2019 @ 21:24:11
Oh, how I envy you! I miss my London visits since Younger Daughter moved up north (because property is cheaper), but she would applaud your attitude – she says it is important that people should carry on as normal.
Dec 05, 2019 @ 11:19:08
It most definitely is – we can’t be seen to be affected by these people, or they’ve won. And I do love my visits to London, although the North has a lot going for it too! 😀
Dec 05, 2019 @ 09:13:58
What a great collection! Always exciting to see more Beverleys on the shelves – this one I *have* read, and it’s very interesting and very eccentric. And I read the Bachelard during my DPhil – not exactly a book to curl up with, but fascinating.
Dec 05, 2019 @ 10:59:13
You can never have enough Beverley, can you? ;D The Bachelard looks and sounds so interesting but yes, probably not a light read… ;D
Dec 15, 2019 @ 13:50:15
Lovely day. I love doing that kind of trip to Paris, so I totally understand the pleasure you must have had.
Oh dear, Gaston Bachelard. I have horrible memories of reading him the summer between high school and prep-school for philosophy classes. My brain is ill-equipped for philosophy, it was painful. But I’m sure you don’t have my brain malfunction and that you’ll enjoy it. 🙂
Dec 15, 2019 @ 20:33:07
London visits are a real treat – but I must admit I’d like to visit Paris!
As for philosophy – I struggle sometimes (Barthes is not always the easiest) but I’m determinted to give it a go!
Dec 17, 2019 @ 19:30:55
I love Paris, as a tourist and I try to go a few times a year just for exhibitions and walks in neighborhoods.
Dec 18, 2019 @ 11:54:41
Ah lovely – one day I will visit…