Open: Wednesday - Sunday. 9.30 - 5.30, other days by appointment
General secondhand books.
Nothing to get excited about. Routine stock with no antiquarian holdings. Chris Harte 27.06.09
I visit every 6 months or so and always find something of interest. There's some gold at the rear for you more literate types, but the UK topography and history are good enough for me. Martin O'London 06.03.13
Like Martin, I visit 2-3 times a year & usually find something useful & at a reasonable price. Especially good for a Sunday 'Must-get-out-of-the-house' browse & possible bonus walk in nearby Osterley Park. A somewhat eccentric bookshop - it always raises a smile when the pigeons start cooing as I look through the nature section or a train whistles by as I'm at the transport section - and there's a bell to 'Ding' when you're done browsing & ready to buy! Definitely worth a visit. Zim 29.05.15
It is lovely - one of the last London suburban bookshops. On my last visit there was a pile of spectacles for short-sighted browsers to use for free - £4 each if you wanted to buy a pair. There's always something interesting hidden away in the stock. Michael Ross 17.10.16
...is having a half-price sale until the end of September. Wee Jimmie 09.09.17
Visited today for the first time, the last Greater London bookshop I had not paid a visit. It has taken 10 years or so but I finally got there! Stock in my subjects (Transport, Observer Books etc) not extensive, the Observer books, in particular, could best be described as 'careworn'. On the expensive side too, perhaps I should have paid a visit during the half price sale. Steve Newman 20.04.18
A visit to this quirky and delightful shop, situated in a former Tube station (Osterley and Spring Grove), never fails to be an enjoyable experience. With the closure a few years ago of the wonderful Cottage Books at Penn, this establishment now has few, if any, rivals as the most atmospheric and photogenic bookshop in the Home Counties. It has been run by the same couple for 49 years, the female half of whom, Pennie Smith, is veritable royalty in the world of rock music photography. One or two of the previous reviews are slightly ungenerous, I feel. The stock is not perhaps of the very highest quality in most subjects, but nor is it entirely run-of-the-mill. Art, photography, fashion and literature all feature strongly, and there is a reasonable selection in the history, military and sport categories too. The shop is rather cluttered, but that only adds to its charm. Hearteningly, the box full of spectacles for readers who might require them for browsing is still in evidence! Turnover seems reasonably brisk, so I try to visit on an annual basis. In almost a dozen visits, I have never left empty-handed. Prices are a bit on the high side, but in most cases not excessively so, and there is a half-price sale of all stock each year for the entire month of September. This enjoyably idiosyncratic establishment is a fair trek from central London, but only a few minutes’ walk from the resited Osterley station on the Piccadilly Line. Convenient also for the National Trust’s Osterley House and Park (the latter of which is free to visit), although this rather drab suburb on the traffic-choked Great West Road has little else to offer. But this unusual bookshop is the jewel in its crown. Booker T 23.12.23
Regrettably, this idiosyncratic and delightfully old-fashioned shop is to close, after more than half a century. For those who have not yet had the pleasure, you still have (a fair bit of) time. In the owners' words: "Until December there will be a big, staggered, sell-off of stock, starting now... until the last clear-out with our usual September sale. Bulk buyers welcome, sales of £100+ get extra discounts on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays."
The couple who own the shop plan to stay in the building to carry on with their main interest (art). They add: "Over the past year our commercial art has kept the shop afloat - Osterleyites no longer read like they used to. Increased bills, rates, wages, heat, and the last straw, parking, which killed non-locals popping in. Plus very few tourists who propped up the slow local sales. To be blunt, the shop is no longer fun. Of course, we're sad to say goodbye, but we can't afford to hang around being a decorative local attraction. We've stuff to do! We need to get our art hats firmly back on and rejoin the circus." If you are planning to buy in bulk and really cannot get there on those days, you can ring the owners and they will try to open the shop for you. As for the parking, it seems that the first half-hour is free and there are no charges at weekends. But the shop is just a short walk from Osterley tube station (Piccadilly Line). There are second-hand bookshops in Greater London that have better-quality stock. But there are still plenty of good books here and the shop's quirky and highly enjoyable ambience is something it will be sad to lose. Make the effort to get here before the doors shut for good. Booker T 23.01.25
Open at advertised times
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Appointment necessary
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