Shakespeare & Company, Paris

I think you could safely say that Shakespeare & Company in Paris is the most famous bookstore in the world. Selling English books, Shakespeare & Company is tucked away on Rue de la Bûcherie, just across from Notre Dame in the 5th Arrondissement on the left bank. This store was opened by George Whitman in 1951, named in honour of Sylvia Beach's famous bookshop, which was a second home to writers like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and Ezra Pound. Beach's shop was closed during the German Occupation.

The shop is now owned by Sylvia Beach Whitman, George Whitman's daughter. George himself died in December of 2011. The shop famously allows writers to live in the shop in exchange for work. It also has a great reading room as well an antiquarian room. I bought a postcard, a Shakespeare & Company blank journal for my friend and a copy of A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. You can see some more pictures here. I've been wanting to go to this shop for ages and it definitely lived up to the hype, although it was ridiculously busy. I wouldn't recommend going on a rainy day and it might be smart to head over right as it opens. While you will have to be sure to check out everyone's favourites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, don't forget about the bookshop with a big name when you're in Paris. You can watch an amazing video here and find the shop in movies like Midnight in Paris and Julie and Julia and read about it in Anna and the French Kiss. 

Buildings Recycled Into Bookstores

While there are so many beautiful bookstores in the world, some of my favourites reside in buildings that were formally something else. Here’s a list of some bookstores from around the world that find their homes in recycled buildings.

Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore, Maastricht, Netherlands A different kind of place of worship, this bookstore has found it's home in a Dominican Gothic church from the 1200's. After the Napoleonic invasion, this church has housed a great deal of different things, from car shows to bicycles to boxing matches. After extensive renovations, the church was reopened as a bookstore in 2006. You can read more (and see more pictures, including the one above) here and read more here. 

Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland Books can take you places, so an old train station is the perfect location for this bookstore, which is one of the largest used bookstores in Europe. The store was opened by Mary and Stuart Manley in 1991, and the train station was built in 1887 by William Bell. In 2000, an old propaganda poster from the Second World War was found in the shop, featuring the words "Keep Calm and Carry On." The poster is now a cultural icon. You can see a fantastic video about the poster here, which includes brilliant footage of this lovely shop. More information can be found at the store's official website. The picture above is by Dave Morris.

El Ateneo Bookstore, Buenos Aires, Argentina This theatre house was built in 1919 and called The Great Splendid. Now housing books instead of plays, this store holds a huge collection of books, with private boxes converted into reading rooms. While the English selection of books is minimal, this store is high on the WOW factor and certainly one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. More information can be found here. Picture by CPX de Mex. You can also read about a theatre turned into bookstore in Toronto here. 

Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins, Colorado First opened in 1980 and called Book Rack, this store changed its name to Old Firehouse Books when it moved into the town's historic firehouse in 2009. You can read more here. Pictures by kurki15.  

Bay Used Books, Sudbury

Sudbury is an industrial city in Northern Ontario that doesn't usually get a lot of love. I do recall a line in the movie Passchendaele, about how you never have to have been to Sudbury to hate it. Home of the Big Nickel,  Sudbury is actually where Margaret Atwood choses to spend her Birthday every year, since she sees it as a symbol of how a place that was once so environmentally harmful can turn itself around (x). I lived there for three years when I was in University, and a few people on tumblr are also from Greater Sudbury. While there were a lot of things I didn't like about living in the Bury (the weather) there were some things I loved (The Laughing Buddha.) One of these things is Bay Used Books at 124 Elm Street.

From the outside, this shop might not look like much. Inside, it is utter chaos, and I mean that in the best way possible. There are a lot of bookstores I love for their clean charm, but no used book store is as fun to spend the day in as Bay's. There are books everywhere, and the store seems almost endless. The first time I missed the back room, and the second time I discovered another room behind that. With a basement as well, there are books everywhere in this store. The prices are usually great, especially with the classics. This is the type of bookstore where you never know what you might find. In a way, this shop is kind of like the city it resides in. Is it the most beautiful shop? Definitely not, but it's the kind of bookshop that takes you by surprise and has become one of my favourites. I always stop here whenever I drive through (or near) Sudbury. 

Savannah, Georgia Bookstores

In March my family and I spent a week in Charleston, spending one day in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is the home of Flanney O'Connor and Forrest Gump, and the inspiration for the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It's a charming Southern city, with terrific bookstores.

Located at 6 E Liberty Street, The Book Lady Bookstore is one of those shops that is amazingly photogenic. It just looks so good, in photographs and in person. With books galore, a cafe and a reading garden, this used book store has a cozy charm that makes you feel instantly at home. 

Nearby is E. Shaver, Bookseller, located at 326 Bull Street. While my photographs didn't turn out as well in this shop, it's a bright store with tons of stock and so many original items, such as the Jane Austen doll pictured above. Like many other great bookshops, it is so much bigger than it appears. Together, these two very different shops compliment each other and provide Savannah with a well rounded selection of books, from the new to the used and rare. 

New York City Bookstore Walk

Back in January I spent a week in New York City, during which I went to John Green's book signing. I went to a lot of bookstores as well, and I thought it would be a good idea to share what I did incase any one wants to do something similar while in New York. In total, I went to 7 bookshops, starting when the Strand opened at 9:30, finishing around lunch.

To start, take the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q or R train to Union Square. The first store is about a 3 minute walk from the subway, walking along Broadway towards 13th Street. 

The Strand, 828 Broadway
While starting here will involve a little bit of backtracking later, this is the bookstore you would go to if you only had enough to time to visit one. From Monday to Saturday, the Strand is open 9:30am-10:30pm, Sundays 9:15am-6:15pm. The prices are good and the selection is massive, selling not only books but merchandise for book lovers as well. I spent one hour here but you could easily spend more. You can learn more at the official website, or read my earlier blogpost.

After leaving the Strand, turn left and walk for 6 minutes. 

The NYU Bookstore, 726 Broadway
While I didn't initially plan to go to this shop, after seeing it I couldn't resist going in. While selling NYU textbooks and merchandise, the store also sells 'normal' books. However, with all the bookstores I went to, this one was more for fun and less about purchasing anything. It's open Monday to Friday from 10-9 and 11-6 on the weekend. You can read more about the shop here.

After leaving the store, turn left and walk for a minute or two. 

Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers, 716 Broadway
This store has no relation to the Paris bookshop of the same name, but it's a cool shop none the less. Be sure to check out the basement which is full of play books. The store is open Monday to Saturday from 10-9:30 and Sundays from 11-8. You find find more information here.

After leaving the store, turn right. Walk past the Strand again and keep walking. It will take about 7 minutes. 

Forbidden Planet, 840 Broadway
Perfect for fans of comics, manga and graphic novels. The store also has merchandise, such as t-shirts, action figures and posters. It's open Sunday to Tuesday 10-10, Wednesday 9-12 and Thursday to Saturday 10-12. You can read more here.

Leaving the store, turn right and walk towards 14th street. Turn right onto Union Square East, and left onto E 17th Street. This will take about 5 minutes.

Barnes & Noble, 33 East 17th Street 
This is embarrassing, but I actually managed to miss the main location and go to a Barnes & Noble nearby that sells mainly textbooks. The main one claims to be the biggest bookstore in the world and is open every day from 10-10. It looks very impressive. You can read more here.

Leaving the store, walk along E 17th Street towards Union Square West. Turn right on Broadway, left onto E 18th Street, which will become W 18th Street. It will take approximately 5 minutes to reach the next store. 

Books of Wonder, 18 West 18th Street
Books of Wonder is a children's bookstore, and was actually the shop that inspired the bookstore in You've Got Mail. There is a little teashop attached to the shop and the store specializes in Wizard of Oz books. Even if you don't read junior fiction or YA, this could be the perfect store to get a gift for someone else. The store sells new books as well as used and rare, and has a great selection of signed books. It is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm, and Sundays 11am to 6pm. You can read more here.

Leaving the shop, turn left and walk for about 15 minutes before turning right onto 10th Avenue. Walk for another 4 minutes until you reach 21st Street.

192 Books, 192 Tenth Avenue at 21st Street
This store is small but still manages to carry a wide range of books. The shop often presents art exhibitions and carries rare and out of print books. It is open everyday from 11am to 7pm. You can find more information here.

To get to the nearest subway, leave the store and walk towards W 22nd Street. Turn right onto W 23rd. The entrance is near the intersection of W 23rd and 8th Avenue, and you can take the C or E trains there. 

Blue Bicycle Books, Charleston South Carolina

Over March break I was lucky enough to stop into Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston. Located at 420 King Street, this book shop is one of those shops that is much bigger than it seems on the outside. With a bookshop cat and a wide selection, this shop is one of the most charming bookshops I've been to (and I've been to a fair few.)

For anyone who is visiting the area (or even Myrtle Beach, which is perhaps an hour from Charleston) I would say this shop is a must see for book lovers. You can see more pictures on my flickr. 

Mabel's Fables, Toronto

Mabel's Fables is a children's book store in Toronto and is probably my favourite bookshop in the GTA. Located in Mount Pleasant, Mabel's sells books for children of all ages, as well as books for teens and even popular books for adults. The displays are always brilliant, the staff is knowledgable and friendly and there's a bookstore cat! You can see the feline Mabel in the window.

If I were to describe this shop in a word it would probably be cosy. Opened in 1988, Mabel's Fable's will surely be around for years to come. You can visit the shop's official site here. 

The Strand, New York City

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Strand Bookstore in New York City. After Shakespeare & Company in Paris, the Strand is perhaps the most hyped bookstore I know about. Featured in Dash & Lily's Book of Dares and shown very briefly in the movies Julie & Julia and Remember Me, the Strand is within walking distance of many other book shops and was the first stop on my list. 

While the Barnes & Noble at 18th Street claims to be the world's largest bookstore, the Strand certainly felt bigger to me. Carts like the one pictured above surround the outside of the shop, and the inside contains four floors of books. The books were cheaply priced and the store also sold some wonderful bookish merchandise (tote bags, t-shirts, mugs, journals, etc.) While I heard that the staff was infamous for being rude, I thought they were all perfectly nice. 

Before I went to the Strand, I imagined it to be massive but very dusty, with primarily used books. While I was right about the size, the Strand sells used, new and rare books and is a warm and charming bookstore. Definitely a must-see for anyone bookish while visiting New York. 

Runnymede Chapters, Toronto

The majority of the books I buy are from Chapters, which is a chain of bookstores in Canada. While these stores are big and spacious, they are all essentially the same and not very interesting after you've been to one. The Runnymede Chapters is the only exception I know about. Located on Bloor St. West, the bookstore was originally a theatre that opened in the 1920's. 

The theatre shut down in 1999 and eventually became a Chapters. Fortunately, the theatre was restored and it has become one of the prettiest bookstores I've ever been to. A few of the old theatre style seats are scattered throughout the store for shoppers. This was a bit out of the way for me, but it was worth going over to the West End just to check out this exceptionally pretty bookstore. 

Bookshop Profile: World's Smallest BookShop, Kinmount, ON

For the last weekend of my February reading week this year, my family decided to go to a friend's cottage near Bancroft, ON for the weekend. On the way there we passed huge signs labeled "Worlds Smallest Bookshop." For some reason we couldn't turn around, but we stopped by on the way back.

More books are available in the main store inside, called Daniels Dandy Den, but the little shop by the road is open 24 hours, self serve and all books are $3.

Very cute little shop with a good selection of books. I find that some of the smallest shops often have the best books. I ended up going a bit overboard and bought 7 books for $21. Stopping there was a very nice end for my study break.