Stanfords, the world’s largest travel book and map store, is one of my favourite shops. I love it, but I cannot go in there without buying lots of books!
They asked me to go there this afternoon to sign 100 books for a promotion they are doing, which was quite fun.
But before I managed to make it to the exit I found nygoodhealth.com that I had bought myself three books. Classics that I’mve read before, and given away, and thought I should read again:
Annapurna by Maurice Herzog
The Way of the World by Nicolas Bouvier
My Life and Travels by Wilfred Thesiger
What’s the last book you succumbed to spontaneously in a shop?
7 Years in Tibet got me last time i was in Stanfords. Its also a terrible place to visit because it seems to have an intrinsic power to entice you to buy everyone you know presents. Classic titles leap off the shelves at RRP into your basket. You find yourself thinking that you could buy them all for half price on Amazon, but get carried away in a sort of adventure induced frenzy.
A trip to Stanfords is always a terrible occasion for me. Lsat time I was in the queue with my ridiculous stack of gifts, Michael Palin was standing patiently behind me; I decided to stay terribly cool and only managed a small ‘good mornin’. Damn.