Daunt Books

83 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 4QW
Nearest Tube - Regent's Park, Baker Street or Bond Street
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Daunt Books is my favourite London bookshop. It exudes history, has knowledgeable staff, displays books in an eclectic way, and is a great place to both browse and buy. The branch I've shown here is in Marylebone High Street, and has an enormous travel books section, where both guides and fiction set in that country site side by side on the shelves. So if you're going to Barcelona pop in and get both your guidebook and a couple of novels to inspire you during your stay.

SKK

34 Lexington Street
London
W1F 0LH
Nearest Tube - Any of Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square
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SKK is my favourite lighting shop in London. When you first walk in it looks in part like a workshop, with bits of lighting equipment lying around and a general lack of 'We are a shop' vibe. However this just encouraces you to explore, and see some of the very clever and limited edition lights that they have on offer.

Ian Logan Design Shop

Ian Logan Design Company
42 Charterhouse Square
London EC1 M6EA
Nearest tube - Barbican
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This is probably my favourite shop in London. It's very small, but contains more original gifts and ideas than large department stores. Most of my friends and family have had presents from here at some point - but I still keep finding new things every time I go back.

Update - as of early 2008 Ian Logan closed its doors, but the website is still live.

There are a couple of alternatives I'd recommend for that special present - Pedlars in Notting Hill and Magma in the West End - the 'product shop at No. 16 Earlham Street, not the bookshop at No. 8