It's like friendship IRL. It takes a lot of exposition to get into their world and even more to let go and accept them for who they are.

And that is why I start reading with bad books, the void is already very small, but it gets bigger by time

It's funny how when people talk about women's issues suddenly everyone starts to nitpick over the most trivial shit imaginable to derail the discussion. Would people be this bothered about historical accuracy if the topic was more neutral?

And I would argue that it does matter in the modern day, especially for children's books, because people should be able to make an informed choice about whether or not they want to sit down with their kids and explain the context.

Edited for clarity.

Goldsboro Books mostly deals in signed first edition books. Great place for collectors if you're into that. My dad has been ordering from them for decades and has had nothing but positive experiences. We live in the States but visited London in 2006, and their little shop was one of his must-sees.

John Sandoe scratches all my itches.

No you don't understand, if it was written 100 years ago IT CAN'T BE RACIST!!!! /s

I loved this place when I lived in London and was sad when I realized that it moved during my last visit :(

Ironically I still laugh at those cartoons even with the added knowledge of how creepy it is (I mean, it's the looney tones, there's worse than that lmao). But the moment I try to say "you can't deny it's creepy, when you think about it" and people automatically assume I'm OfFeNdEd and incapable of watching old cartoons without swooning from the oFfEnSe or whatever they think it is lol

Literature is a hell of a drug

I think if you read memoirs about people you like/are interested in, you will find them more enjoyable

Racism was still racism 90 years ago. By this logic we should justify the old people who are still racist now because they were born and grew in another era. If you're reading the book now, it's racist NOW and it was BACK THEN. End of story.

yeah and the racism sucked. Why are people defending racism???

> livello 3HeroIsAGirlsName · 2 h faI thought your post was funny OP and I'm not sure why everyone is getting so upset

Because god forbid women call out the sexism and creepyness in books eye roll standard reddit behaviour

Yep they usually are outside at the entrance

Memoirs, like any other genre, have examples I like, and others I don't. A lot of memoirs are plagued by a lack of self-awareness, or attempts by the writer to present themselves exclusively in a positive light. Of the books you read, I only read "Educated", and I know Westover was criticized by family members. I'm not a fan of celebrity memoirs (or most political memoirs, for that matter), as they tend to be self-serving and narcissistic. I can't imagine ever reading Jennette McCurdy or Tom Felton's. One exception from a celebrity was Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime", but he had a genuinely interesting life, and he's funny. Other memoirs I enjoyed in no particular order ... Lit, by Mary Karr; Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir, by Natasha Trethewey; and Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren. Robin Wall Kimmerer's "Braiding Sweetgrass is a mix of memoir and nature writing, and is one of the best books I"ve read in years.

There are a lot of excellent biographies. Ron Chernow has written a few excellent ones about important people in US history. "Hamilton" is perhaps his most famous. David McCullough wrote an excellent biography of John Adams. Walter Isaacson's biographies are uniformly excellent. His biographies of Leonardo Da Vinci and Einstein ware particularly good.

The King's collection in the centre is worth the visit alone.

> Your description sounds like the problem lies more with you than the story really

Welp nope, the story sounds every bit as creepy as it is. I don't give books passing marks or cut them slack just because they're old. It's very important to address books by today's standards and criticize them. Expecting today's people to react favorably to very problematic plot points (we literally have a pedophile here in the story) is absurd. Critiquing a book by today's standard is the healthiest thing to do, not shutting up people and telling them it's ThEiR pRoBlEm lmao

A question I can answer!

East London: Brick Lane Books (my old local), Libreria (small, very beautiful, just off Brick Lane). Further east Hackney Books (local favorite), Burley Fisher (also in Hackney, run by an author).
South. Review Bookshop in Peckham, run by the author Evie Wyld. Bookseller Crow is good too.
Central. Hatchards is beautiful. Foyle's is huge but good. Both have great staff. London Review near the British Museum is famous and for a good reason. They also have the best twitter account or did before Muskination.
West. I don't know as well. Bandit country IMO. All the Daunts are good and tend to be in beautiful old shops. Lutyens & Rubinstein has a great selection. Knowledgeable staff.
North. Owl Bookstore in Kentish Town.

There's some comic book/graphic novel bookshops in Soho that are good too. Gosh! Comics is the best.

If more come to mind, I'll add them. London bookstores/shops are great.

I might be wrong about this but the Gower St. Waterstones is amazing and the only one I know of that does second-hand books including the gorgeous orange Penguins.

Generally good post, but I ask that in the future you don't refer to temporary emotions as some form of depression, so as not to minimize the significance of medical depression.

OMG SAME!!!!

Yep, they moved to Bath in 2020-21 I think, which is kinda sad. It was a cosy shop and the folks running it are super-nice.

If you like cooking, Books for Cooks in Notting Hill

Terry Pratchett? If you don't need it to be sci-fi he has a really similar style and sense of humour. He frequently writes with that exact same dramatic irony back and forth between the narrator and the characters that is so good in Hitchhikers.

You’re doing nothing wrong. Read what you enjoy.