Peruse the latest releases in indie favourites Pages of Hackney and Kirkdale Books, get wanderlust among the vast shelves of Stanfords and bag well-thumbed second-hand treasures in Bloomsbury`s Skoob. London is a world-leading literary mecca and bookshops here are more than just places to pick up paperbacks - from community favourite (and the city`s first Black bookshop) Beacon Books to queer Soho institution Gay`s the Word, these 50 shops are the capital`s finest places to seek out new stories. Time to clear some space on your to-be-read shelf. This is part of a growing series of opinionated guides which offer straight-talking insider`s advice on what to do and see in London.