Local bookshops

The time has come to plug our local bookshops, on the off chance that anyone new to the area (or important and influential) is reading this.  Obviously, our much loved Kew Bookshop has pride of place in our community, right in the heart of the village, next to the tube. Mark and Isla have an uncanny knack of getting to know the tastes of their customers and are never short of suggestions; their pithy reviews on the shelves are always a pleasure.

However, only this week did we visit their other shop in Barnes and what a delightful visit it was.  The Barnes bookshop looks just like the Kew Bookshop (as you can see) except it's bigger and has a far wider selection of books. There is loads of space including a fabulous downstairs area where you find the back catalogue, many specialist sections (including cookery, travel, sport, history) and a wonderful array of glossy coffee table books (popular in Barnes, not in Kew, we were told, an indication perhaps of relative drawing room sizes?).  It is well worth a visit.  A trip to SW13 and lengthy browsing in the book shop should always be combined with a restorative lunch...... and we found on a Saturday that Sonny's fitted the bill nicely.

Chatting to Mark and Isla about their two shops and the knowledgable and personal service they offer made me feel very protective of the Kew Bookshop (and not a little guilty at my occasional Amazon purchases).  I'm sure it's a case of "use it or loose it"...... hence this entry to encourage readers to do just that.