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I stopped buying books from Amazon (unless I’m trying to pad out an order to get free shipping) and now pretty much exclusively shop at Waterstones because I got a Waterstones card. BUT! I love love love independent book stores and shop there wherever possible. My favourites to visit are Backstory in Balham and Upper Street Books in Islington. You can feel the individual love and care put into the displays and selections.
Sep 10, 2024
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This is a wonderful little bookshop just off of Brick Lane in London. They have their books sorted by theme (e.g. "leaving home", rather than genre, author, etc) and the staff are lovely. I love popping in for a quick browse every so often – but even if I'm going to window shop I tend to leave with one or two things :)
The back of the shop is a gigantic mirror, which makes it look a lot bigger. Every time I'm there I get tricked by it for at least a couple seconds, which is very humbling.
Jan 5, 2025
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It’s important to note that my Amazon dilemma is particularly potent because I used to have a firm belief that the next book I bought had to be in-store. This was, in part, inspired by Fran Lebowitz (someone I both love and fear), who says you have to touch a book in person to truly decide on it.
But as I continued to shop in-store for my books in East London, I found that a type of hyper-curation takes place. Many bookstores, whether chains or independent, carry the same selection. This makes sense, as stores need to invest in books that are more likely to sell, but it also means shoppers are led into a quasi-algorithmic experience of book shopping. To find more niche titles, you almost always have to turn to online sources (see above). To find a happy medium, I’ve started using the resale site World of Books. You can find pretty much anything and everything there. and always at a discount
Sep 18, 2024
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For new books:
McNally Jackson (kinda an obvious choice, always a really good selection, Soho & Williamsburg locations)
Greenlight Bookstore (my local new books bookstore, where I go most often, Fort Greene BK)
For used books:
Housing Works Bookstore (some great finds here, housing works is a nonprofit that fights AIDS and homelessness, they mostly have thrift stores but also this 1 used book shop!)
The Strand (another obvious one but I go here so often too tbh)
Unnameable Books (many people have said this already but want to +1 it! my local shop!)
Mar 9, 2024
Top Recs from @whildeyscotch
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It is soooooooo hard to believe in these days when everyone is set on villainising one another because that’s just easier than empathising or understanding, and then also to not use this to slip into an “I can fix him” mindset. But I am a bell hooks babe and I believe that the true power of love is to transform us. To be loved is to be CHANGED!!!!
May 3, 2024
I saw this yesterday at Prince Charles Cinema and the final shot kinda made me wanna pump my fist in the air at this triumph of cinema but someone else had already been told off for being rowdy so I resisted
Jan 27, 2024
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Support our independent cinema screens!! I am a Londoner so I have memberships with BFI, Prince Charles and Picturehouse and it is totally worth it, especially as watching movies takes up a good chunk of my personality and I dislike watching things at home. Advanced screenings, access to smaller films, discounted tickets are all great but it’s also just nice to support these places who do so much in preserving the British independent film scene which is currently in an abysmal state. Curzon, Everyman, The Garden, Genesis, ICA and many more are also all great and I would be members of them all if I could. Big up BFI especially because I probably wouldn’t have got as far in both my career and love of film without them, and the Northampton Filmhouse in my hometown which was my first independent cinema.
These are of course London based examples but I encourage everyone to support their local independents 🫶🏻
Jan 27, 2024