Lutyens & Rubinstein

Simonetta Wenkert just made this sunny September morning brighter by popping in to sign copies of her new book IDA: AT MY TABLE!

Part memoir, part cookbook, all vivid prose, IDA tells the story of how and why the beloved restaurant came to be. In 2007 Simonetta and her husband Avi put aside their respective careers to realise their dream of bringing regional Italian food to London. Twenty-seven years later the restaurant has become an internationally renowned fixture in the city and this book is a testament to its perseverance and success.

What a delight to meet the wonderful who joined us in the shop last week to sign copies of her baking book, SIFT - and tempt us with the delicious recipes in it.

Signed copies of SIFT in store now - pop along and get yours.

The lovely Jacqueline Crooks stopped by this week to sign her Women’s Prize shortlisted novel Fire Rush.

While traversing London and Jamaica, Fire Rush beats with music as it explores Yamaye’s grief, and her dreams.
Come by and pick up your copy for some beautiful summer reading.

Today we were treated to a visit from William Smalley , who kindly signed his architectural tome QUIET SPACES!

This beautiful book brings together Smalley’s interior designs and the buildings around the world that have inspired him. Harry Crowder’s photography for the collection pulls readers into the intimacy of these elegant spaces. The work also includes a foreword by this year’s Booker Prize judge Edmund de Waal.

It was wonderful to welcome local writer Rachel Cockerell and Lucy Hughes-Hallett this Tuesday to discuss Cockerell’s debut work ‘Melting Point’. Exclusively using source material to capture history Cockerell explores how, in 1907, a group of Russian Jews set sail to Texas to find a new life.

The evening’s conversation explored personal histories, researching the archives, and what it means to exclude one’s own voice from the telling of history. A fascinating conversation from two wonderful storytellers of our pasts.

Join us to hear award-winning author Catherine Chidgey talk about The Axeman’s Carnival with Emily Rhodes — next Wednesday 8th May, 6.30pm

The novel tells the story of the magpie Tama; part trickster, part surrogate child; part witness, the more Tama sees, the more the animal and human worlds bleed into one another. Like Catherine’s previous novel, Pet — an international bestseller — this novel is deliciously dark, thrilling, and utterly original.

Tickets are £6 — including a free glass of wine or soft drink — and can be bought on our website following the link in our bio.

’scarnival

We’re incredibly excited to be kicking off our 2024 events very soon. With tickets to our first talk — with Adam Phillips — now sold out, take a look at some of our others.

Tickets to all our talks our £6, and include a glass of wine or soft drink. They can be purchased in the shop, on our website (by following the link in our bio!), or over the phone.

Our book pick for February is Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh, a strange and lyrical fictionalisation of an unsolved mystery: the mass poisoning of a small French village.

Elodie is trapped in a passionless marriage with the village baker, and spends her days dreaming of love and adventure from behind the till of the bakery. This existence is disrupted by the arrival of two mysterious, glamorous newcomers to the village, an ambassador and his tortured wife — change which brings relief, and then tragedy. Billed by The Times as a ‘dreamy sapphic romp’, this novel is a thrilling, incisive exploration of desire’s corrosive power.

We’re thrilled to be kicking off our 2024 events programme with an evening with Adam Phillips on 29th February. Adam will be talking to us about his latest book ‘On Giving Up’ — a meditation on what we must give up to feel more alive.

Tickets are £6, and on sale now. Purchase them at the shop, or on our website by following the link in our bio.

The Irish Times has called Ferdia Lennon’s ‘Glorious Exploits’ one of the best debut novels in years — Elsa would agree! Lennon toes the line between hilarity and restraint, imbuing history with playful modern twists. An ideal choice for fans of Euripides and James Acaster!

Three fascinating paperbacks which have come into the shop this month ~~~

Sarah Graham’s ‘Rebel Bodies’ ~ Graham pays attention where some doctors do not: through personal stories of patients who have suffered on account of the gender health gap, this book mounts an essential call to arms.

Tom Crewe’s ‘The New Life’ ~ Oscar Wilde’s arrest is a terrifying step backwards for Henry and John, who have been working on a book which defends homosexuality’s legalisation. Crewe’s stunning sensory observations paint famous historical events in vibrant colours.

Jenny Odell’s ‘Saving Time’ ~ Does time equal money and vice versa? Odell traces the history of time as an economic framework, and considers how we might break free of it in the future.

What’s your winter reading type? Do you like to lean into the cosy side of the season, or engage in literary escapism? Katherine May’s ‘Wintering’ might help you learn to love the cold, or you could explore Italy with Cynthia Zarin’s essays, or try ‘The Love of Singular Men’, Victor Heringer’s devastating novel about young love, set over one scorching Brazilian summer in the 1970s. Whatever your mood, the shop is full of fabulous titles to kick off your 2024 reading with a bang.

Cycle, drive, tube, walk if you can to the bookshop to pick up a copy of Julia Bradbury’s ‘Walk Yourself Happy’. We were delighted to have Julia into the shop last week to sign copies of her wonderful new book about how walking improves physical and mental well-being.

We’re open late tomorrow — come browse for Christmas presents till 8pm, with seasonal eats and drinks ❄️✨❄️ We’ll help you find perfect gifts for readers young and old!

Some of Olivia’s non-fiction favourites — come along to the shop to pick up these fabulous titles, or receive more bookseller recommendations ✨✨

‘Elkin, Diski, Smith, and Lispector all write with eyes on both personal and political, mining their lives so very generously. In reading these collections, you will learn highly specific (and entertaining) details about the streets of New York, or 1960s Brazilian talent shows, or the sensation of treading the snow of Antarctica underfoot, or what the music videos of Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Beyoncé have in common. But underneath, a picture develops which is far broader. Their varied musings show us what it means to be a person who bears witness to human tragedy and joy, and how we might do so more actively, honestly, helpfully.’

Clarice Lispector’s ‘Too much of life’
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Jenny Diski’s ‘Why Didn’t You Just Do What You were Told?’
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Zadie Smith’s ‘Feel Free’.
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Lauren Elkin’s ‘Flâneuse’

Struggling to find time for holiday shopping? Come along to our late night shopping event — on Wednesday 6th December we’ll be open till 8pm, with seasonal eats and drinks while you browse. Our booksellers will be on hand to help you find the perfect festive gift for even the most picky of relatives. ✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄

Copies of the paperback edition of Elizabeth McCracken’s ‘The Hero of This Book’ have arrived with us in the shop — come on by to take a look, or browse for other titles ✨📚✨📚✨📚✨

Still reeling from the death of her mother, the novel’s unnamed narrator takes a trip to London. Grief tends to collapse time, and for the narrator the past and present intermingle: while she explores the city, her mother is always on her mind. She remembers a previous trip to London they took together, her mother’s extraordinary, furious strength in the face of adversity, and many expressions of her offbeat sense of humour (she was ‘’more fun than anyone I knew’). The novel meditates on love, loss, and the nature of writing fiction itself: ‘Invent a single man and call your book a novel. The freedom one fictional man grants you is immeasurable.’

✨ Elsa’s faves ✨

Our booksellers love to recommend titles old and new.

Here’s what she has to say about this selection …

Yaa Gyasi’s ‘Homegoing’ —
One sister is sold into slavery, one sister stays in Ghana. Told from the perspectives of their children through 7 generations, the book is a kind of Sankofa bird, looking back to move forward.
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Mieko Kawakami’s ‘Breasts and Eggs’ —
A visit from Natsuko’s sister and niece begins an exploration of the joy, fear, and weirdness of having a body that produces milk and eggs.
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Virginia Woolf’s ‘The Waves’ —
Float in and out on the tide of Woolf’s prose as 6 friends grow up, grow old, and grow into themselves.

All in stock at the shop! 📚

Our Christmas window has arrived! Gloriously jam-packed full of all of the books and other necessities you need for the festive season.

❄️❄️We are now open 9am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 11am-5pm on Sunday!❄️❄️

We were delighted to have Michel Faber in last night to discuss “Listen” — his non-fiction debut — with Peter Curran. It was a fascinating conversation, spanning such topics as the responsibilities of music critics, the impact of trauma on the human voice — and how Dolly Parton’s coolness has evolved through time!

Signed copies of the book can be found in the shop.

Come along to our event with Michel Faber this Wednesday, 7.30-8pm. He’ll be talking to us about his fascinating non-fiction debut, Listen — in which he examines how and why we listen to music (and argues that music holds a mirror to the listener, rather than the world!). Link to purchase tickets in our stories (£8, or £25 with a copy of the book).

We are big fans of Briony May Smith here at the bookshop (you might have spotted Margaret and her unicorn hiding in our children’s section!) So we were delighted to see copies of Caryl Hart’s new book ‘A Treasury of Ballet Stories,’ illustrated by Briony, arrive in the shop this week.

With atmospheric and truly magical illustrations, these stories are set to sweep you away! Enchanting reading to transport young readers during the longer winter nights.

Perfect for any fans of the story orchestra series who want longer stories to get stuck into. Come and discover this (and Briony’s other books!) here at the bookshop!

Join us next Wednesday 8th November at 7pm to hear the brilliant Michel Faber exploring two big questions - how we listen to music, and why? in conversation with Peter Curran, tickets cost £8 alone or £25 for ticket + book.
https://landrbookshop.co.uk/product/michel-faber-event-london/

A Letter from Sarah & Felicity

We wanted to let you know that our lovely bookshop is embarking on a new chapter under the ownership of Daunt Books as the L&R Bookshop from October.

We opened in 2009 at a time when the kind of books we loved reading and representing were getting lost; supermarkets were selling bestsellers at hugely discounted prices, traditional bookshops
were focussed on 3 for 2’s and it seemed we’d soon be reading everything on a screen.

Everyone thought we were mad, but the shop was profitable from the start with a fantastic team of booksellers headed by Claire Harris and the best customers any bookshop could hope for.

However, in the last 14 years, our literary agency has tripled in size and we could no longer keep the two businesses together under one roof.

We are absolutely delighted that the shop has grown such solid roots in the neighbourhood and has had so many visitors from all over the world. And delighted too that Daunt Books, with whom
we share so much of our DNA, have agreed to take it under their wing while keeping the individual identity of the shop.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your custom over the years. We have loved selling you books!

Sarah and Felicity

Join us next week for a daytime event with to discuss her book Slow Road to Tehran. Tickets are free, but please do book ahead so we know you're coming! Link in Stories.