London Bookshops

And then I visited a few London bookshops. Charing Cross Road is not what it once was as regards second-hand bookshops, there seems to be fewer and fewer each visit. As well as that it was sad to see Borders lying empty. Foyles is still there of course, welcoming, very well signed, clear notices as to where each section is and a great stock. Bought nothing there though. found one I was interested in on film director Fred Zinnemann but it was a bit expensive so I thought I'll get it secondhand on the internet.

In one of the secondhand shops on the street I did find a copy of a book I mentioned here a while ago, Jackie Kay's The Lamplighter which deals with slavery. It is described as both an acclaimed radio and stage play and a multi-layered poem. The book comes with a CD of the BBC radio broadcast in 2007. Looking forward to listening and reading it.

I also had a look in the Oxfam book shop near the British Museum, some interesting stuff there but I resisted a purchase. I have too many unread books from 2009 to buy anything unless I really want it.

It's our own fault that book shops are closing I suppose. It is so easy to source books, new or secondhand, on the internet. I found and ordered a secondhand copy of the screenplay for the film High Noon last week from somewhere in the US, not Hadleyville, and it's on its way at the moment. The postage was more than the book cost but it was still very reasonable. Why High Noon? Why not? A man's gotta do . . .