Down our Street

On a recent trip to Great Ormond Street Hospital with No.2 son, Kian, we stopped in a great little book store, The Lamb Bookshop. This is located in Lamb's Conduit Street, a street that I always think is one of the most quiet, gentle streets in the whole of London. Maybe it has something to do with the historical philantropy surronding the area, maybe this affords it an unspoken respect, but, I'm certain that if you were to shout out loud in that street, the shopkeepers would come out and, with index finger pressed to their lips, actually "Sshhh" you. Back at the book shop, we found that it had a great little, local vibe going on. There was a children's corner, which Kian loved, and we sat there for a good 20 minutes reading everything from Noddy to Dinosaur books. I browsed through the paperbacks and picked up a book by an author that I thought I had read everything by, but, somehow, this one must have escaped me. It looked really good, in a collection of short essays way, rather than his usual novel-type output. I promptly paid for it, along with The Beatles Anthology book (half price - result), some great Maths-help books for Finn and, of course, the Dinosaur book for Kian. We said our goodbyes to the nice lady owner and headed to the Hospital for Kian's appointment.

It was a long wait in the Hospital and, before I knew it, I was a quarter of the way through the book. This is the mark of a great read, you get completely swept up in it, lost in it, even. So good was the book, that I decided to pick up another copy for a friend's upcoming birthday. When I went back into the shop and handed over the book to the nice lady owner, she asked "Haven't you already bought this one today?". I told her that she was correct and then told her about the aforementioned friend's birthday. She looked at me with a smile, the kind that you used to get, on very rare occasions, I might add, in 2nd hand record shops when the guy (they're always Guys) behind the counter let his perma-cool guard down, just long enough, to nod in approval at your purchase. You see, this is the problem with big chain bookstores, all show and no atmosphere. Try getting that look the next time you are in Borders or Books, etc.