The word is on the street

The reading hotspots you really should visit when you are in London, says Bernadette Fallon

When the date was announced for shops re-opening, I burst into tears. I could go back to my favourite bookstores, hold books, admire tables stacked with them and browse books I didn’t even know I wanted, algorithm free.

If you’re visiting London, these are the reading hotspots you really should visit. If you’re not visiting London, luckily there are many other ways to avail yourself of their services.

Central

London’s oldest bookshop, Hatchards on Piccadilly, opened in 1797 and is one of my favourite bookshops (also, presumably, the Queen’s as it holds several Royal Warrants). It has five floors of books, quirky curated tables, friendly staff and one of London’s best Christmas book events every year. Not in London? Sign up for a subscription and receive a hand-selected book each month, chosen to match your interests; visit Hatchards.co.uk

A few doors down, the Piccadilly branch of Waterstones is Europe’s largest bookshop. As well as eight miles of bookshelves and thoughtfully supplied armchairs, it also has a basement coffee shop and 5th floor restaurant and wine bar. Buy online at Waterstones.com, browse reviews, blogs and staff picks. Around the corner in Curzon Street, Heywood Hill describes itself ‘a cross between Black Books and Downton Abbey’. Sign up for A Year in Books for a book delivery every month for a year or choose a one-off book bundle; visit Heywoodhill.com

In the area: Guests staying at The Dilly on Piccadilly get a discount at Hatchards and books from the store are available to browse in the hotel. Browns Hotel nearby is the setting for Agatha Christie’s At Bertram’s Hotel and the author used the hotel as her London base. Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book during one of his many stays at Brown’s and Stephen King started the book that became Misery from Kipling’s desk here.

West

The Notting Hill Bookshop – yes, ‘the one from the film’ – has a gorgeous glass-roofed children’s section, a cosy nook for travel books (it was originally a travel bookshop) and a basket of ‘blind date books’ wrapped up in brown paper with scribbled teasers hinting at the contents. If you can’t find the book you want on their website, they can track down

almost any book that’s still in print if you send them an email; visit Thenotthinghillbookshop.co.uk

Lutyens & Rubenstein is just around the corner; an in-the-know bookshop and literary agency where you might find more ‘offthe-beaten track’ volumes. Book subscriptions are available for three, six or 12 months, there’s also a Year in Cookbooks and a Boarder's Book Club; visit Lutyensrubinstein.co.uk Speaking of cookbooks, Books for Cooks is nearby and does exactly what it says on the tin as well as serve lunch every day from noon. They will post books all over the world; visit Booksforcooks.com

In the area: The V&A is currently running an Alice in Wonderland exhibition, Curiouser and Curiouser, and nearby Egerton House Hotel is offering an Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea, which can be enjoyed in the hotel or packed up in picnic baskets and taken to Kensington Gardens next door – visit Egertonhousehotel.com for details.

North

Word on the Water is a floating bookshop on a barge moored on

Word on the Water on Regent’s Canal, main; Notting Hill Bookshop, top; Kirkdale Bookshop, above

Regent’s Canal dealing in new and second-hand books. Browse over five million titles on the website, sign up for a second-hand book box or a book prescription – one book a month for six months; visit Wordonthewater.co.uk

In the area: The Standard Hotel in King’s Cross has recently opened The Library Lounge with library books galore to browse amidst cosy couches and reading tables.

South

A basket of ‘blind date books’ is wrapped up in brown paper

One of the best second-hand bookshops in London/the world, Bookmongers in Brixton offers the chance to lose yourself in a wildly diverse selection of roofhigh book stacks. Buy from their shop at Bookshop.org, follow the link at Bookmongers.com

Running since 1966 Sydenham’s Kirkdale Bookshop has new and second-hand books, as well as gifts like seed bars of Shakespeare-inspired flowers and arty cards. Order at Kirkdalebookshop.com

In the area: Arthur Conan Doyle, John Ruskin, Kenneth Grahame and Muriel Spark were all South London residents.