Quiet London, by Siobhan Wall, is the type of guidebook every major city needs. A nice mix of places, some of which even many Londoners won't know about.

It has been a while since I have been to London and this book, while not including very many places with which I am familiar, did remind me of many of the things I have enjoyed on my visits. I mentioned a few places to a couple of my friends who live there and got several "I haven't heard of it, sounds great" comments.

I like the organization being by type rather than area since, in seeking quiet places, I am likely to want to know where the best libraries are, or museums, or parks. Another of the guides I just read is specifically about villages and the geographic arrangement there works best. In fact, I will be taking these two books on my next visit.

While I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in London as a place to visit (or live) I think either some familiarity with the city and/or a planned visit will make the book more valuable and interesting. For the armchair traveler, the websites are included so you can do even more visiting virtually. I spent some time looking up several places in particular.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

This lovely little book was written by an artist and university lecturer based in London who began to search for places of solitude within the noisy, crowded streets of the capital. Based on personal explorations and recommendations from friends and people she encountered, [Quiet London] briefly describes well over 100 hidden and lesser known gardens, parks, art galleries, cafes, bookshops, cemeteries and other spots where one can relax in an environment free of music and crowds within zones 1 and 2. Each entry includes a photograph, web site, and directions via the Underground and bus. Only a couple of the sites were familiar to me, particularly the London Review Cake Shop within the London Review Bookshop and The Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury, but there were at least two or three dozen sites that looked especially interesting. This is a book that I'll bring with me on all of my future trips to London, and I would highly recommend it for casual visitors and longtime residents of the city. ( )