About The Guide

Hello! We are Sonja and Ivan. And this is our Bookstore Guide - an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe. We hope this Guide will help you find the book(stores) you are looking for. Unfortunately, the bookstores are no longer uploaded and may be out of date

Mál og Menning, Reykjavik

mal og menning bookstore logo

Where?
Reykjavik, Iceland



Recommended by:
Thor Fjalar Hallgrimsson from Iceland

Thor Fjalar said: "There are two major bookstores in downtown Reykjavik, big per Icelandic standard but still small enough to be considered independent (at least they are not Barnes & Noble or similar). My favorite of the two is Mál og Menning (language and culture, translated), they have plenty of English books on the second floor (not counting the basement)."

Iceland is mostly known for its nature, music and history, but literature is also a huge factor in the life of its people. In fact, people in Iceland are said to have the highest per capita book consumption in the world. There are several bookstores which do their best to supply the unusually high demand for books in this country. Mál og Menning is one of the favorite spots for the local booklovers in Reykjavik and it also offers a wide selection of books, magazines and newspapers in English. It specializes in travel related literature, you can browse through lots of guides and maps and a whole load of material on Iceland. The offer of English books goes well beyond the usual bestsellers in the fiction category and their stock of academic non-fiction titles is definitely worth noting.

Located in the very center of Iceland's capital Reykjavik, in the city's most known shopping street, Mál og Menning is a huge bookstore which can suck you in and not let you go for several hours. The bookstore also houses a book-cafe called Sufistinn on its second floor. This lively popular spot is mostly known for its very good offer of hot beverages (coffee, hot chocolate...), but also for its colorful walls, painted by the local young artists.

There is one more Mál og Menning bookstore in Reykjavik, which can be found in the business quarter of the city.

mal og menning reykjavik bookstoreMál og Menning
Address:
Laugavegi 18
101 Reykjavikmal og menning reykjavik








Website:
http://www.bmm.is

Phone and Email:
+354 515 2500
bmm@bmm.is

Working Hours:
Mon-Fri 9-22
Sat-Sun 10-22


Back to the list of bookstores in Reykjavik

Libreria Praga, Granada

Libreria Praga Granada logo

Where? Granada, Spain



Recommended by
Kelly Amabile



Kelly said: "The folks at my hostel pointed me down Calle Garcia where I came upon several used bookstores with some English-language sections. I picked up a used copy of Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman at this shop that has Spanish books as well."

Libreria Praga in Granada offers only second hand books (mostly in Spanish but with a small section of used English-language books), rare books, comics and even vinyls. Thousands of novels and even more comics find their place on the shelves of this bookstore - well organized and easy to find - for more than reasonable prices (ranging from as little as a Euro).

The bookstore was founded over ten years ago, in 1997 and it specializes in literature, books on art and cinema, philosophy, history, politics and religion, biographies and also comics, which they themselves take much pride in. Libraria Praga is located near the Plaza de Gracia. Although their website is in Spanish only, check out their book and comics catalogs online for more information on current editions.

Libreria Praga Granada bookstoreLibreria Praga
Address:
C/Gracia 33
18002 Granada
Libreria Praga bookstore Granada






Website
: http://www.libreriapraga.com/

Phone and Email:
+34 958 520 101
info@libreriapraga.com

Working Hours:
Mon-Fri 10-14 and 18-20
Sat 11-14

BSG Photo Gallery

Bookstore Guide wants you to send your favorite bookstore photos to its (upcoming) Photo Gallery. No matter if the bookstore is in Europe, Asia, America or any other continent. No matter if you are in it or your best friends, or any living beings for that matter - as long as it is your own photo of a bookstore you've visited - a new one or an old one, one that we've heard about, one that we haven't - regardless of the type of a bookstore and the language of the books in it.

So, equip yourself with a camera and head on to bookstores no matter in which part of the world! Later on, send those pictures to bookstoreguide@gmail.com where we're eagerly awaiting to read from you. Don't forget to write a little caption as well, so we would know which bookstore it is.

Wishing you a lovely bookstore hunt!


Pitkä Mies, Helsinki



Where?
Helsinki, Finland



Recommended by
Jelle Hugaerts

Jelle said: "The name of the store is Pitkä Mies and it is a comic store that carries cutting edge art comics, graphic novels and mini comics, mostly from the States but also a very good selection of Finnish comics."

Another bold and fresh project has found its way to our mailbox: Pitkä Mies - a heaven for comics lovers - opened just recently in Helsinki. Jelle Hugaerts, a well known figure in the Finnish comics community, decided to upgrade his online store focused on comic books from all over the world into a real concrete 3D bookstore. And he put a lot of effort into creating a store that would stand out and satisfy the needs of even the most demanding comic freaks.

The first thing you notice upon entering the store is that a lot of attention has been paid to the interior design, which reflects the taste of the owner. Of course, Jelle's taste is most expressed in the selection of the comics and related books the store offers - his specialty being alternative comics both from Finland and abroad. Hand in hand with the carefully selected offer of the comics genre comes a handpicked (by Ifsociety, a small Finnish indie music label) collection of vinyls (focusing mainly on the indie scene with a special coverage of the Finnish experimental music) and also design T-shirts from Finland and the US connected with the comics subculture. To top it all, to complete your experience in this ultimate comics spot, once you're too exhausted to move, you can just drop in one of the sofa's with a cup of vegan capuccino and slowly start digesting all the visual impressions...

Pitkä Mies, with its 90 square meters is a part of the Finnish comics centre that will open soon. This creates a unique space where practically all elements of the Finnish comics subculture are concentrated under one single roof. Pitkä Mies - the bookstore, the only comic art gallery in the country run by the Finnish comics society, and a group of young comics artists known as the Kuti Kuti comics collective occupies the basement of the building. The Kuti Kuti ensemble also provided a huge silkscreen printing machine, which should be used in workshops that will take place here along with lectures and other events starting from September on. Still, this is not all there is to tell - it is best to see it for yourself and experience this comic strip paradise.

Pitkä Mies
Address:
Kolmas Linja 17
00530 Helsinki







Website:
http://www.pitkamies.net/kauppa

Email: pitkamies@pitkamies.net

Working Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 -19
Sat 10 - 16



Back to the list of bookstores in Helsinki

Presence With Word, Heidelberg

presence with word heidelberg logo

Where?
Heidelberg, Germany



Recommended by
Shawn Sarvey

Shawn said: "It is a small, independently run shop in the heart of the Old City, Heidelberg. The shop mostly has used books, but there is also a small new book section too. Ordering new books is also possible."

Although the number of bookstores we list is already considerable and is constantly growing, each of the new additions is unique in a way and there's something special about each one of them. This is definitely true for this English bookstore in the German city of Heidelberg named Presence with Words. We've been contacted by the man behind this project - Shawn Sarvey and some further research of our own confirmed the initial feeling that this bookstore definitely deserves to be mentioned in Bookstore Guide.

The experimental aspect of this bookstore consists in the addition of a small gallery where the works of the owner are displayed together with a small studio for sculpture. You can also check out some of the exhibits in the online gallery on the store's website. This attempt to combine the concrete material shapes of the sculptures with the boundless and ethereal world of thoughts hidden in the books makes Presence with Word the place where the Physical meets the Abstract...

This exclusively English bookstore offers a wide range of books (both used and new) covering several categories such as classic and contemporary fiction authors or titles focusing on science, psychology or history in the non-fiction section. Fans of sci-fi, fantasy, crime or romance books should also be able to find something from their preferred genre. But that's not all... The aim of the founder is to answer the interesting question - how does sculpture influence thought and vice versa? Go find out for yourselves and let us know what you think.

presence with word bookstorePresence With Word
Address:
Ploeck 93
69117 Heidelberg






Website: http://www.presencewithword.de/

Phone and Email:
+49 (0) 6221 183001
info@presencewithword.de

Working Hours:
to be added soon