Creaky wooden floors and Persian rugs
Stumbling upon the perfect book shop and an unexpected read.
It wasn’t the scent of new and old books accompanied by old wooden shelves panelling the walls that I noticed when I opened the door. It was the creacky wooden floor and the bell ringing, followed by a cosy atmosphere giving you the impression of having stepped back in time. A feeling that only London had given me so far.
Over the years, I have been looking for a cosy bookstore with vintage features and a modern catalogue in the city but it felt like impossible to find. If the shop was old-looking, the book selection was too, the kind of place your professors would frequent where, yes, you may find a hidden gem here and there but mostly you wouldn’t care about what is sold. If the shop was selling a modern catalogue of books and even sported a ‘#booktok’ label on one of the shelves, then the atmosphere was mostly supermarket-like, with anonymous and unkept shelves and lots of ads everywhere.
When I passed by the shop windows yesterday, I was sure it belonged to the first category but then, on a second look, I saw that it screamed my name. Literally, as one of the windows was displaying a beautiful edition of Alice in Wonderland. Peeking inside, I spotted all sorts of books from children literature to non-fiction and even publications in other languages. I had to investigate.
The floor was covered with overlapping Persian rugs, slightly discolored in some spots from the several feet stepping on them over the years, it was dark but cosy inside giving you the feeling of being in an old english pub and the books, what a great selection! There was an entire corner dedicated to fantasy literature on the right and another one with young adult stories, at the back on the second room, creacky wooden stairs going to a second floor where books in English, French and German were neatly displayed. A shop clerk greeting me with a welcoming smile. There, the rooms were smaller and the ceilings lower but there was the same cosy atmosphere you could breathe downstairs and the rugs too.
I browsed through the shelves for some time and descended the stairs with a smile on my face. I would have visited again and again this new gem of a bookstore from now on. But when I was about to reach the main room, a book at my right caught my sight. The title on the spine read Latino per Birdwatcher1. Taking it out from the shelf, I noticed it had some beautiful illustrations of birds. On the back, the blurb read “[…] Birdwatchers need a universal language when they're speaking about birds, since common names vary by region. Latin for Bird Lovers answers this call, introducing more than 3,000 words to describe birds. […]”. It was meant to be. As I love etimology and I have recently started observing the birds around where I live, this book had to come home with me.
In an age of fast paced social media and rushed life, these slow living serendipitous moments feel like a balm. I would have never stumbled upon such a gem of a book online.
It’s always so tempting to simply surrender to your digital life and go by TBR (to be read list) and bookish apps for book recommendations. But sometimes, I find that wandering without a specific idea in mind, browsing shelves and just follow your gut can give you in return the best rewards.
The original title of the book is Latin for Bird Lovers: Over 3,000 Bird Names Explored and Explained.
Where is this wonder of a book store? It was so nice to visit vicariously.