The German Bookshop Hunt II May 29, 2008

The German city of Heidelberg has a lot of bookshops to offer. Part one of this series is proof of that. (Click here to read it.) Since I visited the city for business, I did not have enough time to visit all the bookstores I photographed. From the shops I did step into, one of them stood out. By far. In fact, it must have been one of the most beautiful bookstores I have even seen.

Click ‘more’ to read the story about the mesmerizing used bookstore called ‘Antiquariat Hatry’.

The German bookshop hunt I May 19, 2008

On my business trip in Germany, I had a few moments to spare. I decided to go on a photographic bookstore hunt. And it seemed to be very good hunting in Heidelberg. Below, click on ‘more’, you will find the shops I managed to find and photograph. And there were lots more! The shops were closed on the particular day of my hunt, but that did not ruin the fun.

All the bookstores of Heidelberg can be located via Google Maps. Click here to do so. For a list via the tourist website of Heidelberg, click here. I have two other stories about the literary life of Heidelberg for you. One is about one particular extraordinary bookshop, the last in the list below. The other story is about the beautiful University Library. You will read them soon!

Bookstore Guide November 3, 2007

If you are a book lover who is planning on visiting Europe, you will love this website/blog. If you are from this continent, you must take a look at it! The website I am talking about is Bookstore Guide. It is most probably one of my favorite bookish blog finds recently. (You can also find it in the Bookish Blog Links A-Z.)

Sonja and Ivan have made “an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe”. The sidebar already shows a wide variety of cities on which the website has bookstore information. At this moment they have 40 European cities on their list. If you live in Europe, please help Sonja and Ivan by giving them information on your local bookshops. I am sure many bibliophiles will be thankful for your contribution. Note: make sure the bookstores you send in have books in English on their shelves.

Click here to visit the website.

 

 

    (Picture: The bookstore I visit often. Verwijs in The Hague, The Netherlands.)

The bookstore in the city of sin October 31, 2007

As promised, in this post my ‘review’ of another book shop. This is my second ‘reportage’ in the series “The bookstore in…” (Click here to read the previous one.) The bookstore that is the subject of this article is a little bit further from home. Last week I visited The Reading Room in Las Vegas. Click on ‘more’ to read the story.

(Learn more about this book here.)

 

Kimbooktu goes Vegas October 19, 2007

I have to go to Las Vegas for work from 20 to 27 October, so I am going to leave you for a week. I am quite looking forward to my trip, since I have never been to Vegas before. I would not be Kimbooktu, if I did not check for bookstores in the area. Click on ‘more’ to discover the bookish attraction I will hopefully visit on the strip. And read how you can ‘survive’ without me the next week.

The image is adapted. Click here for the original.

Storage tank bookstore September 14, 2007

I have a thing for unusual bookstores. Actually, I love every shop that sells books. (See the category “Book Shops”.) But I just saw this one and it blew me away. The title of the post kind of gives it away, so I will not tell you anymore. Just click here and be amazed.

 

 

Thanks to Mary Jo for mailing me the link.

The bookstore in the church August 7, 2007

As I posted yesterday, I visited the Dutch bookstore that is housed in a church. Since it is quite a drive, we used the occasion to escape the city. We booked a hotel and off we went! The first thing on our ‘to-do-list’ was going to this store. As promised, I wrote a short story about the bookstore and my thoughts about it. Click on ‘more’ to read the story.

Remember? August 6, 2007

Do you remember my post about that fantastic Dutch bookstore housed in a church? (If not, click here to read it.) I never had the chance to visit it, since it is about a 2,5 hours drive from my city. But this weekend, the husband and I went to see it! And it was truly stunning…

I will post a story and photo’s about the visit later this week!

Bookvillage: Redu July 6, 2007

Whilst on Honeymoon in the Ardennes in Belgium, I finally got the chance to visit Redu. This is the second largest book village on the planet, after Hay-on-Wye. So my fresh hubby and I drove for an hour to get there…

Only to find closed bookshops. The shops in this part of Belgium have some strange opening hours. In the Ardennes a lot of shops are only open during weekdays during holidays. And the holidays in Belgium started the day we left. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was…

It was interesting to visit the village anyway. I am definitely going back to embark on a giant shopping spree. I wrote an short article on the village, click on “More” to read it.

The worlds best bookstore III March 27, 2007

Another great bookstore. Sadly, this bookstore is one of a big chain of bookstores, Barnes and Noble. I say sadly, because I love the (small) independent bookstores. But they probably could not afford to turn a movie theatre into a bookstore, like Barnes and Noble did in Rochester, Minnesota in the USA.

The bookstore used to be the Chateau Theatre, which opened its doors to film lovers in 1927. Eventually it fell into disrepair. Barnes and Noble bought the theatre in 1994 and renovated it, hopefully to its former glory. The theatre used to look like a medieval city underneath a ceiling depicting a starry sky.

Unfortunately, I cannot find any pictures of the past and present interior. (If you do, please let me know!) You can learn more about the bookstore here and here. Or click here to go to the webpage of the store. If you know of an amazing bookstore, that you think is the best of the world, please post it here. (You can also click the new category I made, named ‘bookstores’.)

Thanks to Chris for the link!