A world of book stores

I spent a good bit of my adult life hanging out in bookstores, but never one as impressive as the Livaria Lello and Irmão in Porto, Portugal, shown above, which I have never visited and never expect to visit, but I’m glad to know exists.

When I was younger, I would always look for bookstores when I was in a strange city.  I thought I got an idea of a city’s nature from its bookstores, and the selection of books on offer.

I no longer do much traveling, and none as a tourist, and I no longer buy books with the idea that I will read them someday in the future.  Instead I’m reading the books I bought in the past with that idea in mind.

But if I were a world traveler, I would be sure to visit places mentioned in the links below.

LINKS

Seven Bookstores Too Beautiful for Words by Jake Rossen for Mental Floss.  (Hat tip to my expatriate e-mail pen pal Jack)

Weird and wonderful bookshops worldwide – in pictures by Marta Bausells for The Guardian.

10 independent bookstores you should visit worldwide – our readers recommend by Marta Bausells for The Guardian.

A novel oasis: Why Argentina is the bookshop capital of the world by Uki Goñi for The Guardian.

Beautiful bookstores of the world

The Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal

I love bookstores.  For me visiting places like these would be the next best thing to heaven.

Buenos Aires's Librena El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht, the Netherlands

This bookstore was originally a Dominican church at a time when the Roman Catholic Church was the custodian of learning.

The Bookabar Bookshop in Rome, Italy

Click on The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World for more beautiful pictures from Flavorwire.

Click on Reader’s Choice: 20 More Beautiful Bookstores From Around the World for even more beautiful pictures from Flavorwire.  [Added 3/3/12]

Click on The world’s most inspiring bookstores for a slide show.

Hat tip to The Little Design Stall.