Secondhand and Antiquarian Bookshops in the UK 2018
Key
Open at advertised times
Phone before travelling
Appointment necessary
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure these details are correct, we recommend that you contact each individual bookshop before travelling any distance. Add your bookshop here
Book Mongers
439 Coldharbour Lane
BRIXTON London SW9 8LN map
tel: 020 7738 4225
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 6.30.
Book Mongers sell a wide range of new and second hand books including novels, cookery books, music books, thrillers and comics.
Add a comment Read commentsHide commentsA bit of a messy place with a resident dog to boot and no real bargains to be found. Still, good to have a bookshop back in S W London. - Mandalay Bookshop 23.01.12.
Yes there is a measure of disorganisation - the shop is a stranger to the concept of 'alphabetical order' within a degree of categorisation and thematic placing. Irritatingly the stock is, as in so many places, placed two deep on shelves , so one misses the opportunity to scan and move on. The owner is an ex pat American with excellent taste in music and radio tuned to a Boston station (depressing to find so much support for Romney). Excellent little rest area with couch and resident dog v. friendly and an integral part of the considerable charm of the place and to which I was banished when my phone went off - not unreasonably. Worth a detour for the stock and the gems which have to be mined for. - Jon Morgan 05.10.12.
Back again, and no dog. Excellent jazz playing - Coltrane?? Sadly even more books in front of books, making browsing / scanning difficult. I love the eccentricities of organisation to be found in second hand bookshops, but this place is a real challenge. Worth a visit if in the area if only to support a significant asset in what otherwise seems a book desert! - Jon Morgan 14.06.14.
This shop opened in Brixton 4 years after I left. - so it's been run by a Boston MA guy since 1992. Here a short video. Made my first visit there last Wednesday. Lots of stock both hardbacks and p/bs. Bought a good h/b at a decent price. WAD. - Chris K 15.09.14.
This bookshop has grown on me - especially as it is one of the very few remaining in S W London. The stock is substantial and the staff very friendly. Shame about the dust though! - Mandalay Emporium 17.10.14.
Mostly recent (I bought one paperback to read). There were some shelves of older books behind the desk but I was not allowed to look. "waste of time plenty of dealers have looked through them". - John Collins 08.08.15.
Further to Jon Morgan (above), the dog has returned - it now sits in the window - and the practice of double-parking books on shelves is no longer widespread. Substantial stock in most categories; especially strong on countercultural fiction from both the UK and USA. Prices are fair; I bought the recent Edward Burra monograph in perfect nick (RRP £40) for 15 quid. - Nicholas Sack 14.05.16.
A revisit but little has changed, Still a good range of stock esp fiction although it sees that large numbers of remainders are creeping in. There is some organisation evident alphabetically but fiction is subdivide into categories such as 'Women's etc. Books are placed face out on the edge of the shelves obscuring the titles behind, which themselves obscure the layer behind. That said, mining can yield gems and the crime fiction section has some excellent stock. Good music , off the wall decor and reasonable prices. A root and branch reorganisation and rationalisation would assist without altering the character of the place. Long may it remain but I hoe it becomes more user friendly. - Jon Morgan 20.11.17.
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