Lunch in the British
Museum Library, where one side of the cafe is made up of a huge glass wall shielding shelves of beautiful, old, leather-bound, gold-embossed books. The books and the subtle lighting bring a quiet, studious air to the cafe, even if it
is all done out otherwise in sleek white and chrome. It's a great place to meet if you're seeing someone off on a train at King's Cross/St Pancras, and want a little bit of peace and quiet to chat.
After saying goodbye to my niece, we wandered off to Lambs Conduit Street and
Persephone Books. I do love the shop - it is very pretty, very small, and crammed with grey-covered
books, one of each opened out to show the pattern on its endpapers. I had so far only bought and read one book from it,
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, which was sweet, and funny and slight - and now a
motion picture! Perhaps I should try to rent the dvd and see how it matches up to the book.
It's the kind of space I'd love to have as my own library, with a lamp on a table for reading at, and a comfy chair to plonk down onto, and perhaps doze off in, mid-sentence...
I have all of the ingredients at home - a table, chair, lamp and bookshelves - but I haven't
quite got them arranged properly, so my 'library' room isn't quite so stylish, and I don't think I've ever sat in there just to read a book or a magazine.
Actually, it's amazing what a judicious bit of cropping can do...! Considering it's all cheap and cheerful, second hand, or auction stuff, it does look quite inviting. Perhaps I should persuade myself to sit there and read the book I bought on this visit,
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple...
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