Book Mongers

Voilà une librairie d’occas bien sympa dans une rue très vivante et animée du quartier en pleine mutation de Brixton. De quoi donner un peu de vernis culturel et éviter l’invasion des snacks.
A l’intérieur le visiteur découvre une véritable caverne d’Ali baba. Les livres né sont pas très bien classés, mais cela importe peu tant le but est de se perdre. On y trouve un peu de tout dont des classiques a bas coût et même quelques ouvrages en français ou allemand. Le libraire est sympa. Ils prennent la carte.

Friendly owners, good wide selection. Their categorisation & alphabetisation (read: not alphabetised) encourages browsing over finding something you’re looking for. Reasonable prices. Nice folk.

A dark place with tons of character. Although I rarely buy anything from this place, I enjoy just wandering round wondering how those piles and piles of old tomes come to be in this dusty place. The staff are fine, they just allow you to peruse the place without any pressure to buy. You might need their help though, should you be looking for anything in particular. There are A LOT of titles to get through here!!!

When I used to live in Brixton, I would try and visit Book Mongers at least once a week. Now, unfortunately I don’t have such easy access, but it still remains to be one my favourite second hand bookstores. Rather inconspicuously hidden down the Brixton entrance of Coldhabour Lane, Book Mongers is like a little romantic vision of the bohemian bookstores you come across in films: it’s small and poky, the salesmen are always friend and give good honest advice, and the books are stacked up as high as my head (and I’m six foot three inches tall).
Despite the the fact the prices seeming to have gone up over the past couple of years, it’s still invariably cheaper than a lot of second hand bookstores I have come across, and I always manage to walk out with something exciting. The sections range from European Literature, Philosophy, and even a special section devoted to Irish literature. One pointer though, the books aren’t shelved in alphabetical and there’s quite a lot of piffle to sift through before finding the read you are after; but if you’re like me, you’ll find the thrill of the chase even more rewarding.