The World’s 6 Coolest-Looking Bookstores
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Usually a store is just a store. But a few stores are attractions in and of themselves. So it is with these six incredibly cool-looking bookstores. Next you are in Maastricht, Beijing, Porto, Buenos Aires, Paris or Mexico City, add these stores to your list of must-see attractions—even if you don’t plan on buying a book.
#1 Selexyz Dominicanen
Maastricht, Netherlands
It’s tough running an independent bookstore. To make such a business successful it helps having God on your side.
Perhaps that’s what the proprietors of the Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore were thinking when they decided to house their establishment in a 13th century Dominican cathedral in the center of Maastricht, Holland. Though, in truth, the cathedral hasn’t been a center for worship since Napoleon put the kibosh on services after he invaded Maastricht in 1794. Since then the cathedral has been alternately abandoned, used as a warehouse and turned into what was probably the world’s most sanctified indoor bicycle parking lot.
Despite the fact that the cathedral hadn’t been a working cathedral for more than 200 years, turning the space into a bookstore was an enormous challenge for Selexyz Dominicanen’s architects. A city ordinance required that the cathedral be completely preserved, meaning that no permanent modifications to the building of any sort were allowed!
So how do you create a three-story bookstore in a cathedral when you can’t drill any holes into the building or attach anything load-bearing to its walls? Selexyz Dominicanen made ingenious use of free-standing black steel scaffolding. This scaffolding completely supports all the bookshelves and the catwalks to them. The shelves and scaffolding are close to the cathedral’s walls but scaffolding never actually touch them.
Add to that a tasteful use of religious iconography (check out the cross-shaped reading table in the pic, above), a nice cafe located where the church choir once sang, and a slew of inviting nooks and comfy reading areas and the result is a bookstore that’s absolutely divine.
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#2 Poplar Kid’s Republic
Beijing
What a cool design concept: Start with an all white bookstore interior—white floors, white ceiling, white walls, white stairs, white bookshelves, white everything—and to that liberally add rainbow splashes of bright color. Stock your shelves with a huge multi-language selection of kid’s books, add reading cubbyholes and padded activity areas, and you have Beijing’s Poplar Kid’s Republic, our favorite children’s bookstore in the world. (Sadly, our previous favorite children’s bookstore, the Cheshire Cat outside of Washington, DC, closed down several years ago—we hope endowing our current favored status upon the Kid’s Republic won’t condemn it to the same fate). Our few photos below don’t really do this huge store justice so check it out yourself next you are in Beijing. Kid’s Republic also has a branch, nearly as cool, in Shanghai.
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#3 Livraria Lello
Porto, Portugal
Think a profitable store can’t be lush, rich and somehow homely? The velvety Livraria Lello in downtown Porto will change your mind. Not so much the art nouveau exterior as the gold-accented interior with its red carpets, stained glass, wood paneling and flowing central stair case. Walking into this bookstore, we had an insatiable urge to light a cigar (and we don’t smoke) because, well, this is the sort of place it seems like one should do that. And, indeed, this is the sort of place where one can do that. Cigars are sold in the Livraria Lello’s upstairs four-table coffee shop along with port, coffee (obviously) and baked goods.
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#4 El Ateneo
Buenos Aires
Quiz question: Where and when was the first ever movie with sound shown to a public audience?
The answer: The El Ateneo bookstore, 1929.
Of course, this gorgeous building in central Buenos Aires wasn’t always a bookstore. It started its life in 1919 as the Teatro Grand Splendid; more than 1,000 patrons would fill the theater to watch operas and tango performances. In 1928 this space was converted into a cinema. It has been a bookstore since 2000. Happily, the El Ateneo architects included many homages to the building’s theater days including curtains and stage lighting. There’s also a wonderful cafe up on the “stage.” Add to that plush seating areas and a huge selection of literature and you have what is by far the best bookstore in South America, arguably the most luxurious in the world, and #4 on coolest-looking bookstore list.
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#5 Shakespeare & Co. Antiquarian Books
Paris
If you’ve seen the movie Before Sunset you’ve seen the inside of the Shakespeare & Co. Antiquarian bookstore—this is where Julie Delpy’s character reunited with Ethan Hawke’s during a book signing.
If you’ve read Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. (and if you haven’t you should) then you are intimately familiar with this bookstore. Time Was Soft There is the lusciously-written memoir of a homeless man who was allowed to sleep overnight in Shakespeare & Co by the store’s communist-leaning owner and then refused to vacate when times turned more capitalist. His bed is still there (see pic, below).
But even if you’ve never seen the Shakespeare & Co. Antiquarian bookstore in the movies, or read about it in books, you’ll step through the store’s doorway and sense that this is the sort of quaint, quirky place that should be in cinema and literature. The isles are piled with books. The writer’s room has a working piano for patrons to play. Poets regularly read their work in one of the back rooms.
And if you can’t get to Paris personally then at least visit the store’s supremely well done website—poking around it is almost as much fun as poking around the store itself.
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#6 El Péndulo
Mexico City
Originally this post was envisioned as a list of five bookstores. We had to expand it to six in order to squeeze in Polanco branch of El Péndulo. This bookstore isn’t as amazingly stunning or history-filled as the above five selections are. But it is bright, spacious, huge and gloriously plant-filled. Plus the store (and attached cafe) isn’t shy about using air conditioning, which makes El Péndulo a wonderful literary escape on a hot Mexican day.
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March 24th, 2011at 6:09 pm(#)
One boookstore that did not make the list (and this list is quite impressive) is Barts Books in Ojai, CA.
It the worlds largest outdoor bookstore. A really fun place to visit where you can enjoy the open air and sit under a market umbrella to have a read. Or you can wind thru its labyrinth of bookshelves & aisles and discover something new.
If you can make it out there I highly recommend it
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March 11th, 2011at 11:55 am(#)
Here’s some more info/photos on the Libreria Acqua Alta, from Venice:
http://theartofstayingupallnight.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-bookshops-around-world-libreria.html
The address (although in Venice addresses aren’t of all that much use) is the following:
Calle Longa Santa Maria Formosa,
5176 – Castello 30122 Venezia
It has two entrances. The first time I was in Venice I found it by accident, as I went in through the back, through a small courtyard, and ended up in a long room which had a gondola in the middle. The bookstore itself is composed of random rooms, absurdly connected, some halfway hidden. It’s a joy to wander through. The books were literally everywhere: wooden chests, shelves, chairs, tables, the floor, there’s no real order to them. Although they are arranged thematically (there’s this whole room dedicated to detective novels, or “gialli”, as they’re called in Italy), you can find anything anywhere, really. They have books in several languages, and quite a number of old/rare prints as well. Oh, and a few friendly cats too!
I think it should have definitely made this list.
Oh, and Shakespeare & Co still housed writers/poets/people last time I was there. There was quite an assortment of people living within the library. One of the people I talked to was writing at a table, using an antiquated typing machine. Very bohemian.
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March 4th, 2011at 10:22 am(#)
i think the last one is the best beacuse it givea a home like feeling
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February 28th, 2011at 8:52 pm(#)
Ah man, the Dutch seriously know how to create great bookshops and libraries. Even simpler, just look at the awesome library at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Beats wasting time in the airport lounge!
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January 7th, 2011at 11:32 am(#)
hi! another great book store, acoording to the owner ¨the most beatiful bookstore in the world¨and i think he is right, its in venezia, (i cant give wxactly the address , i guess you will have to get lucky to find it.
but it even has a gondola inside!!!!
BEllisima!!!
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September 19th, 2010at 9:17 pm(#)
Gotta agree with @Paris?…I made a special point of seeking out Shakespeare & Co when I was in Paris this June, because of Hemingway’s _A Movable Feast_. Cool atmosphere, but as a bookstore, it kind of sucked. Poorly organized, cramped, used books outrageously overpriced. It didn’t make me want to linger.
Powell’s in Portland is 10x better.
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August 3rd, 2010at 11:59 am(#)
umm, i would totally love to travel and see all of these!!! ahh-mazing!!
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June 17th, 2010at 11:42 pm(#)
Wow, this article made me want to travel and visit the bookstores featured! Who says bookstore cannot be beautiful?
Thanks a lot!
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June 16th, 2010at 9:53 pm(#)
the one in Porto, Prtugal looks like the bookstore that was in Harry Potter – when they had the blonde hair, hollywood-looking professors who turned out to be a fraud. a scene in the beginning of the movie (which introduced that same actor) was filmed in a bookstore that looks just like Livraria Lello.
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June 8th, 2010at 4:31 am(#)
Twitter: clairenelson
Re. Paris?
I personally love Shakespeare & Co, and still refer to it – after discovering it many years ago – as one of my favourite places on earth. If you want a sterile, spacious bookstore with a searchable database, then go to one of the many chains around the world. If you want a place that oozes stories from every pore, and not just from the books, then it’s the place to go. It’s not about finding something you’re looking for, it’s about finding something you’re not looking for. I personally love bookshops where I can duck into nooks, browse around and find all sorts of gems in hidden corners, rather than standing in front of an alphabetised wall of books with 2-for-1 stickers on them.
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June 7th, 2010at 4:51 pm(#)
In my opinion Shakespeare & cie is entirely over-rated. Sorry…it has a great history, but it is an institution, not a good bookstore, and the interior is cramped and dank and dirty/smelly.
Sorry to be such a crank, just calling it as i smell it.
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June 5th, 2010at 12:18 am(#)
Very nice to look at… unless your a tree.
The “World’s Coolest Bookstore” is the WorldWideWeb!
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June 4th, 2010at 5:00 pm(#)
Wow~ I am in awe. It would be inspiring to look for books in any of those environments.
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June 4th, 2010at 12:56 pm(#)
Twitter: AdvertGirl
What an unexpected and refreshing post to stumble upon. Thank you.
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May 30th, 2010at 9:53 am(#)
the one thing i regret about my trip to paris is not going to shakespeare and company. ate at a cafe next door, thought “i should take a look in there,” and never did.
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May 27th, 2010at 9:59 am(#)
To the person who said John King’s in Detroit deserves to be on this list–I agree wholeheartedly. Wonderful, wonderful place. The building may not be -pretty- in the common sense of the world, but the signs that it was once a factory are still very clear–and even if it was another sort of factory that became Detroit’s claim to fame and, ultimately, its downfall (at least for now), there’s something to putting a bookstore in a building that was part of the industrialism that made Detroit what it was. Wonderful, wonderful store. Have been there many times.
However, I want to say–great list. I know I’m unlikely to ever get to visit many of them, but I enjoy getting to look at the pictures and read about them.
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May 21st, 2010at 8:50 am(#)
What a sight. Interesting to see a church used as a book store. Some of these remind of huge libraries. Enjoyed the tour.
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May 12th, 2010at 7:31 pm(#)
have you not been to bloom and curll in bristol?
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May 10th, 2010at 9:52 am(#)
It’s funny that Selexyz Dominicanen made #1 on the bookstore list and it would be lucky to make #100 on the library list.
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February 17th, 2010at 9:23 am(#)
Twitter: lady_dandelion
I’m looking forward to your library review!!!
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February 14th, 2010at 8:44 am(#)
Twitter: hotelsfairy
The El Péndulo book store look so lovely and bright.
It makes me fall in love with book stores again!
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February 13th, 2010at 9:17 am(#)
Twitter: lady_dandelion
Wow! I especially love the Selexyz Dominicanen, El Ateneo och Livraria Lello! Another book temple (though a library, not a book store is the Stockholm Public Library. Photos can be found here:
Exterior:
http://ladydandelion.net/2010/01/11/shape-and-content/
Interior:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arndalarm/311113434/in/set-72157594515605352/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arndalarm/298387294/in/set-72157594515605352/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arndalarm/355125948/in/set-72157594515605352/
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Spot Cool Travel Stuff Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for the pic links, Lady Dandelion. So you know, we’ve been working on a review of cool looking libraries. Keep on eye out for that . . .
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January 18th, 2010at 8:39 am(#)
wonderfull! i wanna live there…
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December 19th, 2009at 10:36 am(#)
The Kid’s Republic Bookstore in Beijing is really quite terrible. A bad selection of books (i.e. not much variety or quantity), and the colorful carpets you see are quite dirty.
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December 5th, 2009at 11:25 am(#)
@abookfan:
YES! Powell’s is one of my favorite places in the WORLD. I actually read this list to see if Powell’s made it…. but sadly, it did not.
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December 2nd, 2009at 11:20 am(#)
Oh…my…goodness! I think I just found the next 6 places I want to live. These are fabulous! Off to tweet to my bookish friends…
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November 29th, 2009at 3:02 pm(#)
Twitter: nerdmor
You left Livraria Cultura, in São Paulo, Brazil:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/1244111085_d3e243893f.jpg
http://www.fashionbubbles.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/livraria-cultura1.jpg
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November 15th, 2009at 10:43 pm(#)
i tihnk there is one that you should add. its nothing special in terms of architecture, but its one of the biggest bookstores i know of. its called powell’s city of book in portland, oregon and takes up more than a full city block, 2-3 stories tall. its massive, and there has never been a book that i couldn’t fine there.
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November 13th, 2009at 1:05 pm(#)
I think that John K. King Books in downtown Detroit should be added to this list. It’s a huge bookstore in a former factory – a lot of the old factory signs are still there, and the whole thing is a hodgepodge of creative handmade signs. You can get lost in that place – it’s awesome.
http://lnvsml.blogspot.com/2009/05/dial-30-getting-lost-in-michigans.html
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November 5th, 2009at 8:54 pm(#)
Twitter: chrisronk
You were not kidding. The first one is phenomenal. The second one look kind of like a habitrail.
Nice post.
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November 5th, 2009at 8:15 am(#)
some of them look amazing
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November 4th, 2009at 10:49 pm(#)
I loved all of these, but especially the first one….how nice that a space once devoted to the propagation of ignorance and superstition has been reconfigured to spread genuine knowledge and enlightenment. One down, how many million to go….?
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October 13th, 2009at 8:41 am(#)
Twitter: orangepolkadot
Thanks! I think you just created my next “I want to travel to” list.
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October 3rd, 2009at 5:27 am(#)
Wonderful collection. Made my day.
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September 29th, 2009at 11:54 pm(#)
Twitter: WildWanderings
Thank goodness they are not in my neighborhood – or I’d move in
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