“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”
- Voltaire
House of Hodge
Charity Bookshop
Established 2009
As one of London’s best-loved secondhand bookshops, we offer a curated selection of books, from contemporary fiction, to the classics, unusual history tomes, bestsellers in psychology and current affairs, as well as Booker Shortlist titles given to us by local book reviewers : ). We also have stacks of CDs, DVDs and a stash of vinyl.
For enquiries or if you like the look of anything in the window, just email us.
Opening Hours*:
Mon 11-5
Tues 11-5
Weds 11-5
Thurs 11-5
Fri 11-5
Sat 1030-1730
Sun 11-5
*There may be occasions when the shop isnt open at the above times: that's because we're run by a team of volunteers who also have busy lives!
About Us
Our delightful book cave is located between Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park. We were founded in 2009 by Dr Doreen Rolph, a popular local and well-read cat lover who wanted to raise funds for animal welfare.
People who knew Doreen and the shop back then often tell us stories of how the shop was "organised chaos",
only for die-hard bargain hunters.
The bookshop has become a local institution, and today Doreen’s work is continued by dedicated volunteers.
Still somewhat cave-like, but cosy and with a lot more labels, we think of ourselves as a book heaven/sanctuary where you’ll find an, ahem, hodge-podge of everything, from popular titles to more obscure interesting and rare texts.
All books are in good condition; some are brand new.
And our name? The shop is named in honour of a cat most beloved to Samuel Johnson - poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and lexicographer, famed for taking 9 years to write A Dictionary of the English Language (1755). It was the pre-eminent British dictionary until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later. The cat, Hodge, was immortalised in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Boswell wrote, "I never shall forget the indulgence with
which he treated Hodge, his cat.”
We Are A Charity
We are a registered charity (number 1193789) with two missions
(1) to support the welfare of small animals and
(2) to support child and adult literacy.
We do this by donating funds to specialist organisations including:
The RSPCA Finsbury Park Animal Hospital; Blue Cross, London, who care for sick, injured and abandoned pets; Hearing Dogs for Deaf People who train dogs to transform deaf people’s lives; StreetVet who provide professional vets to care for homeless dogs and Dogs' Trust Project Freedom - a dog- fostering service for people fleeing domestic abuse. We also donate to Woodgreen who provide safe shelter, specialist care for dogs, cats, small pets, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and Songbird Survival. We also support the Ministry of Stories founded by Nick Horny to encourage children to write and Read Easy which helps adults learn to read.
Volunteer with us!
If you have a spare 3 hours a week, you love books & getting your hands dirty, get in touch!
Hodge Blog
We have bookish things on our minds...
We ♥ Donations!
...and we are delighted to receive so many bags-full every week.
But given our limited space, please :
1. Filter out any of these from your donation:
- dictionaries
- encyclopaedias
- text books
- travel guides older than 2 years old
- journals and reports
- magazines
- books in too worn or poor condition
2. Phone before you donate!
Call us on the day you want to come in and the volunteer on duty
will tell you if we have space.
NB: We can take a maximum of 2 big carrier bags per household/donor.
We can sometimes do house collections: please email us for a call-back.
Thank you!