When I was here last summer, Foyles were still working on their new Flagship Store, so I visited their old one instead, which has now already been turned into a shoe-shop.

“At least they’ve just moved voluntarily”, I said to Louise when we passed it. “There is something very sad with bookshops being turned into something else.”

At Foyles, we talked to Jonathan Ruppin on topics ranging from 84, Charing Cross Road (“The location is currently under reconstruction, which is probably better than the Pizza Hut that used to be there”), translated literature (“I think readers are more curious than they are often given credit for. If you have a table with translated books, often considered more difficult to sell,but  with three or four books they have already read, they will be happy to try other ones as well, as long as they can point to a few books and say, ‘Yes, I liked that one’”) and, of course, Jim Crace and his novel The Harvest. “He really should have won the Man Booker. I think he’s just like Mantel; he’s been writing great books for years, and he only needs one big award to get his major breakthrough.”

Jim Crace’s The Harvest was of course his book recommendation, and I’m happy to say that I only bought one book. And a bag. But bags don’t count, do they? Besides, Foyles have the best book bags – the white one, with separate pockets, and strong enough to handle all the books you might want to carry. Can’t go to Foyles and not buy one.