Waterstones (London - Piccadilly)
As I mentioned in my newsletter (if you aren’t a subscriber and want to be, enter your email at the bottom of the page), while in London for the better part of the year, I’ll be traveling around not only the UK but also parts of Europe and exploring some of the greatest bookstores they have to offer. I’ll review each and let you know if you should add them to your next European itinerary.
Starting strong with the largest bookstore in Europe; Waterstones Piccadilly. I could have spent hours and hours in here! The fun thing about exploring bookstores in different countries is the alternative covers. It makes browsing that much more fun because instead of scanning all of the books and getting a quick gist of what the store has to offer you get to explore more and maybe re-discover books that you had glanced over in the past. The second thing I noticed and loved was that the books are so much cheaper. Lord, help my bank account and the weight of my suitcases.
While this is a chain, it still had a local bookstore feel to it with shelves of staff picks throughout the store. They also host several book clubs throughout the month and a ton of other literary events. I attended a book talk for Coco Mellor’s new book, Blue Sister hosted by them last week. As I mentioned in the Award Season Wrap Up post, they had a Booker Prize exhibit where they displayed the trophy and had shelves of past Booker Prize shortlists to browse and buy. Little touches like that made it feel less like a cold, stale chain bookstore and more like a local bookstore. But also, I’m all for any type of bookstore. Whatever gets books in the hands of people and out of the claws of Amazon.
I also liked how everything seemed to be very organized. Each floor was broken up into different genres. They had everything from fiction, poetry, writing on music and movies, to graphic novels and a kid section. There was something for everyone. While it was pretty busy when we went (I can only imagine how busy it gets in peak tourist season), it didn’t feel cramped and the shelves were wide enough for several people to browse at once.
On the top floor, there’s a café. I’m a sucker for a café in a bookstore. What goes together better than tea/coffee and a book? There was a ton of seating on each floor if you wanted to take a little reading break. I saw several people reading on the couches.
Overall, Waterstones in Piccadilly was a success. I have a feeling I’ll be coming back many times over to browse books and attend events over the time I’m in London.
This had all pros. The only con is that it wasn’t an independent bookstore. But hey, I’ll still support any brick-and-mortar bookstore.
My haul:
I’m a sucker for a signed copy of a book, especially when it’s a book by one of my favorite authors. I couldn’t resist!
Until next time, happy reading!
