Visiting a bookshop never fails to elicit a frisson. Having been a fervent reader since a young age, I have always viewed bookshops as a place of serene delectation. The other day I came across a list of The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World. I was particularly chuffed when I realised that I had been in two of them.
The LibrerÃa El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, Argentina is truly magnificent sight. Formerly a theatre, it still has many of its original features including the balconies, marble columns, ornate carvings, domed ceiling and red curtains.
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| I spent so long gawping at the interior I almost forgot to look at the books |
Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland is located inside a Victorian Railway Station and with seven rooms is one of the biggest second-hand bookshops in Europe. In 2000, a copy of the 1939 Keep Calm and Carry On poster was found in the shop. A classic piece of propoganda from wartime Britain, the design has now gone on to inspire a wealth of merchandise such as mugs, tea towels and t-shirts. The now annoyingly ubiquitous design led to a number of (even more annoying) parodies such as 'Procrastinate Now and Panic Later', and 'Drink Vodka and Get Drunk'. Which is most unfortunate.
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| Barter Books: antique seating and open fires |
My local bookshop is Young's Interesting Books in Shawlands, Glasgow. It is a small, yet charming, shop which has a carefully chosen selection of second-hand books for sale. The owner, Barry Young, wrote a particularly good blog in The Herald entitled Tales of a Second-hand Book Seller.
