Penny Blood's Black Book » Bookshops

Koenig Books

Penny Blood — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:46:36 +0000

Koenig books hosts a collection of wanky art books with beautiful covers and artistically out of focus photographs. It does have a huge selection though so if you do have £50 to burn on a book you will look through once then leave around to use as a coaster you will no doubt find something here. The basement houses all their less glamorous art books (the ones not published by Phaidon), collections of titles on each main stream artist and artistic movement which art students buy to plagiarize in their 3rd year thesis. Main reason I go is that the owner has a pet pug which is sooo cute.

80 Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square, London WC2H 0BF
020 7240 8190

R D Franks

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:53:29 +0000

I have a routine where each month at some point I go to borders and gather as many magazines off the racks as I can carry, all the while avoiding the irritated glare of the store assistants who know fine well that I have no intention of either a) buying any of them b) putting them back. I’ve been doing this for years. I generally keep to myself so magazines are my lifeline to the outside world. Now that I’ve got hooked on various stupid fashion blogs like, Susie Bubble, the Sartorialist, Garance Dore and Style Rookie I have even less need to leave the house. So I trawl though each magazine not actually reading a word mind you, I just like to look at the pictures. Personal favourites include, LOVE, POP, French Vogue, Oyster etc.. When I do find a photo shoot I particularly like I buy the magazine at R D Franks because it’s a heaven of all fashion mags and books galore and like all the first year fashion students I like to look like I shop here.

http://www.rdfranks.co.uk/

5 Winsley Street, London, W1W 8HG
020 7636 1244
Monday – Friday 9am-6pm Closed Weekends

Magma

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:50:58 +0000

Magma is one of those lovely bookshops which sells all those wanky graphics books and expensive documentary dvd’s about fashion designers, plus every arty magazine in circulation, literally floor to ceiling, with guys who dress like members of Blur standing around with an open book looking into space, mouth slightly open as they’ve just found some inspiration from the latest publication of LOWDOWN for their first year project, as everyone knows all art students have absolutely no idea what they are doing…ever. However student loans are the reason shops like this exist.

http://www.magmabooks.com/

8 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9RY
020 7240 8498
Monday – Saturday 10am-7pm Sunday 12pm-6pm

Claire Rouen Books

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:49:36 +0000

Tucked away up a narrow flight of stairs above the Soho bookshop on Charing Cross road is a little designer bookshop specialising in fashion and art books, many of which are hard to find. It is also home to a vast collection of the kinds of glossy magazines that no one ever reads as they are little more than a collection of pretentious out of focus photographs by wannabe photographers, sorry had to get that off my chest, (I still find the time to flick through, well, nearly all of them though). For such a tiny space I have never seen such a vast collection, none of which have unsightly 20% off stickers on them, they are all full price and therefore displayed adoringly yey! The owner’s camp little pug is a fixture not to be missed either.

http://www.clairederouenbooks.com/claire_de_rouen_books.html

1st level, 121-125 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EW

Monday-Friday 10am-6.30pm Saturday 10am-6pm Closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays 020 7287 1813

Artworlds Bookshop

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:34:58 +0000

Art books, graphic design books and magazines which are hard to find is what you get here. It’s a tiny shop packed floor to ceiling with “flick-through-once-and-leave-around-to-look-cool books” with the same being said for magazines which are 75% adverts, 15% ‘artistic’ photoshoots and 5% boring articles on people who don’t matter. I am by the way one of these people who buys these kinds of books and magazines – usually because I find one image that I want, so you will often find me killing time before I get my fringe trimmed with Damian as they are quite happy to have people linger, flick through everything on display, get them to climb up and pass down magazines out of reach, ask them for the one book or magazine they don’t have and leave without buying anything.

http://www.artwords.co.uk/aboutus/

65a Rivington Street, London EC2A 3QQ
020 7729 2000
Monday-Sunday 10.30am – 7pm Closed bank holidays

Notting Hill Book Exchange

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:34:24 +0000

All the people who work here are idiots. I don’t think they mean to be but they have the mindset that people who work in second had book/record stores have – ie that they are superior and know far more on the subject than you ever will. They always have industrial jazz or worse, Nick Cave (I love Nick Cave but like the Velvet Underground it’s totally safe music that noone would ever admit to not liking) playing too loud in the background and over which they make loud in-jokes about comics or whatever that you are meant to be impressed by as I catch them giving me a stealthy side glance. The NHBE is I think the best secondhand bookshop particularly if you are looking for anything on or related to music, film, art, and photography. It’s cramped as the comics take up too much space but I never leave without a few good finds or spending more than a tenner.

http://www.mveshops.co.uk/

14 Pembridge Road, London, W11
020 7229 8420
Monday-Sunday 10am-8pm

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The Travel Bookshop

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:33:42 +0000

Found whilst escaping the thundering rain and looking for a travel guide on Amsterdam, I overhear an American asking “Is this the bookshop from the movie Notting Hill?” (It is.) I wonder how many times they get asked that. No wonder the guy working there said no and that it was all filmed on a set in Los Angeles and then enjoyed the slightly dejected look on the customer’s face. I suppose this would be a good start if you were looking for a travel guide or a book by Bill Bryson, as travel books and travel guides is all they sell. It’s a small cute little shop where a couple of rich white kids are perusing books on South East Asia and boring each other with their gap year stories, twitching for the other to finish so they can tell their own far more impressive story.

http://www.thetravelbookshop.com/

13-15 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 2EE
020 7229 5260
Monday – Saturday 10am-6pm Sundays 12pm-5pm