World’s 30 most beautiful bookshops
1. Livraria Lello
Architectural style – Neo-Manueline
Location – Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória
Country – Portugal
Opened – 1881
Owner – Aurora Pinto and José Manuel Lello
Material – Granite
Design and construction Architect – Francisco Xavier Esteves
Famous Book -Harry Potter
Big-Name – Many claims that J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, wrote the first Harry Potter book inside the bookstore in order for it to become more well-known.
Entrance fee: € 5 ( US$ 5.10) (if you buy anything you will be refunded the ticket price).
2. Arc N Book in Seoul, South Korea
Architectural style – Vintage look
Location – 29, Eulji-to, Jung-gu | B1F, Seoul 04523, South Korea
Big-Name- Because there are two beautiful book wall tunnels newly established here. It is different from the Starfield Library in COEX, and also has a magical atmosphere.
3. Cărturești Carusel in Bucharest, Romania
Location – Strada Lipscani 55, București
Country – Romania
Owner – Jean Chrissoveloni
Opened- 2015
Buy Now – https://glovoapp.com
4. Atlantis Books E.E.
Location – Nomikos Street, Oía 847 02
Country – Greece
Owner –Craig Walzer and Oliver Wise
Opened- 2004
5. Librairie Avant-Garde
Location – 173 Guangzhou Lu Nanjing
Country –China
Opened- November 1996
Owner – Qian Xiaohua
Buy Now – https://pendulo.com
6. Cafebrería El Péndulo
Location – Avenida Alvaro Obregon 86 Cuauhtemoc Roma Nte
Country – Mexico City
Opened – 1993
Owner – Mauricio Achar
Buy Now –https://pendulo.com
7. El Ateneo Grand Splendid
Architectural style: Eclecticism in architecture
Location – Av. Santa Fe 1860, C1123 CABA
Country – Argentina
Opened –4 December 2000
Owner – Max Glücksmann
Design and construction Architect – Peró and Torres Armengol
8.Boekhandel Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands
Location –Dominicanerkerkstraat 1, 6211 CZ Maastricht
Country – Netherlands
Opened – 2006
Owner – Ton Harmes
Design and construction Architect – Merkx+Girod
9. Daunt Books in London, UK
Location – 83-84 Marylebone High Street
Country – London
Opened – 1990
Owner – James Daunt
Buy Now –https://dauntbooks.co.uk
10. Shakespeare & Company in Paris, France
Location –37 Rue de la Bûcherie
Country – France
Opened – 1919
Owner – George Whitman, Sylvia Whitman
Famous Book -English language books
Big-Name -When no one else would, it was the first to publish the entirety of James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” It has served as a casual living room and occasionally a bedroom for many of the most admired authors of modern literature, including Ernest Hemingway and F.
Buy Now –https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/16/bookstore
11. The Bookworm
Location- Chaoyang, S Sanlitun Rd, Beijing
Country – China
Opened – 2002
Owner – Alexandra Pearson
Big-Name -The Bookworm offers more than 50,000 English and Chinese titles in its library, restaurant, cafe, event space, and retail store in addition to its book sales. One of the “greatest bookshops in the world,” according to Lonely Planet.
Buy Now –https://www.bookwormhbg.com
12. Livraria Ler Devagar in Lisbon, Portugal
Location – R. Rodrigues de Faria 103 – G 0.3, 1300-501 Lisboa
Country – Portugal
Opened – 1999
Owner – Bairro Alto
13. Poplar Kid’s Republic in Beijing, China
Location – 9 E 3rd Ring Rd Middle, Beijing
Country – China
Opened – October 2005
Owner – Ishikawa Ikuko
Design and construction Architect – SAKO
Famous Book –The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Big-Name –One of China’s first and largest children’s bookshops, The Poplar Kid’s Republic, carries 3,000 illustrated picture books from China, Europe, America, Japan, and other countries, including well-known favorites like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which enriches childhoods everywhere.
14. Bookàbar Bookshop, Rome, Italy
Location – Via Milano, 15, 00184 Roma RM
Country – Italy
Opened – 1872
Owner – Daniela G.
Design and construction Architect – Firouz Galdo
15. Shaxi Bai Ethnic Bookstore in China
16. The Last Bookstore
Location – 53 South Spring Street Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Country – United States
Opened – 2005
Owner – Josh Spencer9
Design and construction Architect –Rob Mothershed
Big-Name – The Last Bookstore is California’s largest used and new book and record store, having opened in 2005 in a downtown loft. It has grown since then to 22,000 square feet, a softly lit labyrinthine collection of books and records, with space for literary, musical and theatrical events.
https://www.lastbookstorela.com/soop-books
17. Livraria da Vila
Location – Alameda Lorena
Country – Brazil
Opened – 1985
Design and construction Architect – Isay Weinfeld Arquitecto.
Big-Name –Livraria da Vila is a bookstore in São Paulo carrying over fifty-thousand titles. These include fiction, non-fiction, poetry and architecture, photography books, cookbooks, memoirs, art books, biographies as well as autobiographies.
18. Barter Books
Location – Alnwick Station, Alnwick NE66 2NP
Country – United Kingdom
Opened – 1991
Owner – Jason Bergenske
Design and construction Architect – William Bell
Big-Name-Barter Books hit the headlines in 2000 when the owner discovered, in a box of old books bought at an auction, a World War II poster from 1939.
Buy now –https://www.barterbooks.co.uk
19. Librairie Avant-Garde bookstore in Nanjing, China
Location – 173 Guangzhou Rd Nanjing
Country – China
Opened – 2004
Owner – Qian Xiaohua
Design and construction Architect – Peihua Yuan, Ding Chen
20. Strand Bookstore in New York City, US
Location – 828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
Country – United States
Opened – 1927
Owner – Nancy Bass Wyden
Material – Granite
Design and construction Architect –William H. Birkmore
Big-Name – The bookstore is named after a famous street in London where writers such as Thackeray, Dickens and Mill used to gather, and where successful book publishers used to thrive! Today, The Strand is the largest non-commercialized bookstore in New York and is the sole survivor of Book Row.
21. Powell’s Books in Portland, US
Architectural style – Greek Revival, Queen Anne
Location – 1005 W Burnside St, Portland
Country – United States
Opened –1971
Owner –Emily and Chase Powell (1971–1982)
- Michael Powell (1982–2010)
- Emily Powell (2010–present)
Big-Name –In 2016, CNN rated it one of the “coolest” bookstores in the world. The City of Books has nine color-coded rooms and over 3,500 different sections. The inventory for its retail and online sales is over four million new, used, rare, and out-of-print books.
Buy Now –https://www.powells.com/
22. Leakey’s Bookshop in Inverness, Scotland
Location – Church St, Inverness IV1 1EY
Country – United States
Opened – 1979
Owner – Charles Rowley Arundell
Big-Name – Leakey’s Bookshop and Cafe in Inverness certainly doesn’t disappoint, thought to be the lagrest bookshop in Scotland they feature rare and old prints, classic volumes, old maps and much more and has been run by Charles Leakey since 1979.
Buy Now – https://leakeysbookshop.com
23. Word on the Water
Location – Regent’s Canal Towpath, London
Country – United Kingdom
Opened – 2011
Owner – Jon Privett and Paddy Screech
Big-Name – The barge presents a range of performances throughout the summer, bringing everything from folk bands to jazz ensembles to poetry slams to its rooftop garden. Granary Square, an area created out of the former King’s Cross train sheds, is known for Word on the Water.
Buy Now –https://www.wordonthewater.co.uk
24. MENDO in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Location – Nieuwe Doelenstraat 10, 1012 CP Amsterdam
Country – Netherlands
Opened – 2002.
Owner – Gunifort Uwambaga and Lillian Bennink
Big-Name – Moreover, it’s one of the most beautiful book stores we’ve ever been in. Mendo’s cavernous, sexy space is perfectly suited to its focus on fashion, design, architecture, and photography books. Ultimately, it’s one of the most beautiful book stores we’ve ever been in.
25. Book and Bed in Tokyo, Japan
Location – Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukicho, 1 Chome−27−5 Apm
Country – Japan
Opened – November 2015
Design and construction Architect – Makoto Tanijiri and Ai Yoshida
Big-Name – Book and Bed provide a place for book lovers to come together and bond over their interests – it’s a place to read, a place to socialize, and a place to meet people.
26. Pro qm, Berlin, Germany
Location – Almstadtstraße 48, 10119 Berlin
Country – Germany
Opened – 1999
Owner – Katja Reichard and her friends Axel J. Wieder and Jesko Fezer
27. Saraiva in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Location -Rio de Janeiro
Country – Brazil
Opened – 2013
28. Fang Suo Commune in Chengdu, China
Location -CN M068/M069, M Floor, Ocean Taikoo Li, 88, Zhongshamao Street, Jinjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan
Country – China
Opened – 2015
Owner – Chu Chih-Kang
Material – Granite
Design and construction Architect – Chu Chih-Kang
Big-Name – In addition to books, The Fang Suo Commune also sells food, beverages, clothing, conceptual home goods, and gadgets. The Fang Suo Commune has an area of almost 4,000 square meters and is divided into several useful sections, including a bookstore, boutiques, a café, and a reading and interaction area.
29. Livraria Cultura
Location – Av. Paulista, 2073 – Bela Vista, São Paulo – SP
Country – Brazil
Opened – 1950
Owner – Peter, along with his sons Sergio & Fabio
30. Zhongshuge in Hangzhou, China
Location – binjiang district
Country – China
Owner – Li Xiang
Big-Name – After years of development, Hangzhou Zhongshuge has never wavered from its initial goal of becoming the most attractive bookstore for readers and continues to work toward becoming the most artistically and culturally significant bookstore by learning to walk, live, be brave, and endure.
