From the moment I popped my head inside, I knew Lutyens and Rubinstein was going to be my new favourite bookshop. It wasn’t the stack of classics with beautiful hand-drawn covers, nor that every book I’d read about the week before was sitting there. It wasn’t even the proper old-school look of the place – little galleries, a basement and stack of interesting stuff on every table. It was the fact that when I asked about something I was looking for, not only did the woman behind the counter know and recommend the book, but other customers joined in. After a fairly spirited discussion I ended up leaving with a pile of books I’d known nothing about before. As independent bookshops close down all over the city Lutyens and Rubinstein has exactly what it needs to make a proper neighbourhood business. Smart staff, great unusual books and events every week for local bibliophiles. / Rob Valid

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