The London Review Bookshop, which celebrated its 15th birthday this year, is located a stone’s throw from the British Museum, has a selection of more than 20,000 titles, and hosts more than 200 events a year. “It’s a place for people who love books to meet, talk, drink excellent tea and coffee and consume delicious cake at the London Review Cake Shop – and of course, to browse books,” says bookshop manager Natalia de la Ossa. “We look forward to finding you the books you know you need, and, more importantly, the ones you didn’t know you needed.”

Top five sellers

•If Cats Disappeared from the World Genki Kawamura, translated by Eric Selland
•The Cost of Living Deborah Levy
•My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
•Melmoth Sarah Perry
•Call Them By Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) Rebecca Solnit

Five recommendations

•The Arrival Shaun Tan
“One of my favourite graphic novels, it succinctly depicts the sense of isolation one feels in a new place.”

•Beloved Toni Morrison
“This terrifying and heartbreaking story has stayed with me since I read it as a young woman.”

•Lila Marilynne Robinson
“She writes with such care for her characters, it’s difficult to finish one of her books and not feel bereaved.”

•The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
“This story is special to me - it’s the first time I remember reading a book that made me cry.”

•November Jorge Galan
“An amazing narrative about the assassination of Jesuit priests in El Salvador, which captures the pain of civil war.”

London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2JL; londonreviewbookshop.co.uk