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 Unfortunately, the bookstores are no longer uploaded and may be out of date

Books for Amnesty International, Cambridge

amnesty international logo

Where?
Cambridge, UK


 

Recommended by: Jean Sinclair from Cambridge

Jean said: "Cambridge is particularly good for bookshops - these are the 3 that I use most often: Galloway and Porter, Amnesty International Bookshop, Oxfam Bookshop.
Amnesty International - one of several largely second hand bookshops run by this human rights organisation, so, it is particularly strong on human rights, social justice etc. Mill Rd in Cambridge is a vibrant street, popular with students and international visitors, with lots of charity shops (Salvation Army sells clothing from British Antarctic Survey, furniture, cutlery & crockery, for example), international food shops, bike shops etc."

The next recommendation from the university town of Cambridge presents a spot which is quite different from ordinary second-hand bookshops. The famous logo depicting a candle in barbed wire is widely recognized as the symbol of one of the leading NGOs in the field of human rights - Amnesty International. What many people especially in continental Europe don't know is that this London based international NGO also runs a small chain of second-hand bookshops to raise awareness about its activities and projects but also to raise some additional funds.

We hope that you won't object to this addition to the Guide since although it's technically a chain, it only offers second-hand titles and the revenues are used for a good cause. All in all, there are six bookshops in the UK and their list can be found here. The Cambridge Books for Amnesty International bookshop was opened in 1998 and its entire stock is made of second-hand books donated by people who sympathize with their cause. This also means that the stock is very eclectic and you can find all sorts of titles both in the fiction and non-fiction sections. It's also interesting to point out that the entire staff of this friendly small bookshop is formed by volunteers.

books for amnesty cambridgeBooks for Amnesty Cambridge
Address:
46 Mill Road
Cambridge CB1 2 AS
amnesty cambridge bookshop








 


Website: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/

Phone and Email:
01223 362 496
Email via website

Working Hours:
Mon-Sat 10-17:30








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Galloway and Porter, Cambridge








[UPDATE] Galloway & Porter has closed its doors as of June 2010


Jean said: "Cambridge is particularly good for bookshops - these are the 3 that I use most often: Galloway and Porter, Amnesty International Bookshop, Oxfam Bookshop.
Galloway and Porter, 30 Sidney Street, (near entrance to Sidney Sussex College and opposite Sainsbury's supermarket) - reduced and second hand books; particularly good selection of L1 new paperbacks (fiction & non fiction) in the entrance, plus travel guide books, art, academic, children's etc - virtually everything inside, including a surprisingly high percentage of books published in Australia, which isn't very usual in UK bookshops."

Galloway and Porter is mostly famous for its unusually low prices on a wide range of titles. The bookshop originally offered exclusively new books but it is currently specialized in second-hand books and reduced or remainder titles. It has gained a reputation of the best source for not only fiction titles at prices which can not be matched but also for academic books, which even attract university students from London. Once or twice a month, special Saturday sales are held at the Galloway and Porter warehouse, located at 347G Cherry Hinton Road in Cambridge, where most of the titles are sold for 1£.

This bookshop also belongs to the rare 100 and plus years club - it was established in 1902 and it still carries the name of its two founders Sidney Galloway and Charles Porter although Mr. Galloway left to start his own bookshop soon after and the original Galloway and Porter is actually run by the third generation of the Porter family. During its whole existence, the bookshop has remained in its original location at 30 Sidney Street in the center of Cambridge.

Galloway and Porter spreads on three floors - the basement is home to their collection of fiction, but it also houses books on travel and gardening, the ground floor is the place to search for books on art, cooking, or children’s books and the first floor focuses on non-fiction titles covering the humanity field but also medicine, technology and lots of other subjects. Low prices, a great stock which gets renewed very often and a staff service which gets praise from practically all the customers - add it all together and the final result comes pretty close to our idea of an ideal bookstore.

galloway and porter cambridgeGalloway and Porter
Address:
30 Sidney Street
Cambridge CB2 3HS
galloway and porter bookshop










Website:
http://www.gallowayandporter.co.uk/

Phone and Email:
01223 367876
shop@gallowayandporter.co.uk

Working Hours:
Mon-Fri 8:45-17
Sat 9-17:30
Sun 11-17

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Oxford Bookshop, Bratislava

Oxford Bookshop Logo

Where?
Bratislava, Slovakia



Visited:
March 2009

It took us almost a year to pay a visit to the newest addition to the anglophone bookstore scene in the capital of Slovakia. Besides the cozy second-hand bookstore/cafe Next Apache and the Eurobooks bookstore with its extensive offer of carefully selected fiction and non-fiction titles, the Oxford Bookshop rather successfully fills the existing gap on the market with its stock mostly focused on ELT materials, course books and dictionaries.

The thing we liked the most about this bookstore was that it carries a considerable selection of titles in other languages such as Russian, French, Spanish, Italian or German (taking into account that books in these languages are practically impossible to find in the vast majority of the city's bookstores). The English books represent the biggest part of the stock and, besides the mentioned ELT materials and the Oxford University Press publications including their edition of classics but also non-fiction titles from different fields (medicine, business, art, philosophy and others), there are also several shelves which hold a selection of contemporary fiction from different publishers. A small but very interesting children's section is also to be found within the bookstore.

Oxford Bookshop was opened in April of 2008 and after its move from a previous location in Rajska street, it is now located in the very center of the city, near Primacial Palace. It is possible to order any books they don't have on stock. Oxford Bookshop is arguably the best place in the city if you wish to indulge yourself in learning a new language, be it English, Russian or other world tongues. The variety of language teaching materials at the Oxford Bookshop certainly makes it stand out in the city itself and even further.

the oxford bookshop bratislavaOxford Bookshop
Address:
Laurinska ulica 9
811 01 Bratislava
oxford bookshop bratislava









Website:
http://www.megabooks.sk/knihkupectvo/

Phone and Email:
00421 2 526 22 029
bookshop@megabooks.sk

Working Hours:
Mon-Fri 10-19
Sat 10-17

Extra Information: Oxford Bookshop gives 10% discount to ISIC, ITIC and IYTC card holders.



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Bacchus Bar and Bookshop, Madrid

bacchus madrid logo
Where? Madrid, Spain



Recommended by:
spotted by locals
Pablo López Castilla


Pablo said: "Bacchus is more than a pub, more than a bookshop; Bacchus is a bookshop turned into a pub. And all this just in English! Because there’s the charm of Bacchus, a coffee-bookstore where people from all nationalities come to exchange their own language with English speakers.

You can read one of the books that are there -or buy it too-, surf on the Net with its free Wi-fi, play chess or backgammon, drink a beer or a cup of coffee or tea. But you must taste it’s special Bloody Mary cocktail. The best of Madrid without any doubt!"

Not so long ago we were recommended a literary bar in Paris (La Belle Hortense) and it seems like the capital of Spain doesn't want to lag behind. The amazing J&J Books and Coffee is already included in our Guide and it also left a very positive impression on us. But that's not it for Madrid. Bacchus Bar and Bookshop is yet another alcoholic friendly bookstore the city has to offer. We were planning to visit this bookstore on the last day of our stay in Madrid but practically everything was closed due to a national holiday, so it has to be filed under our least favorite category - "almost visited". So all we can say from our personal experience is that Bacchus looked like a really interesting spot from the outside.

Bacchus is divided into two parts: the books are located downstairs while the booze occupies the upper floor. The stock of the bookstore only contains books in English but we're quite sure they're not that selective about the drinks they offer upstairs. Their stock consists of around 2500 titles both new and second-hand, with the possibility of swapping or selling the used books.

Bacchus Bar and Bookshop is located in a part of Madrid known as Moncloa, which is home to many students. Indeed, students and expats belong to regular customers of this bookish bar. The best invitation to Bacchus is it's motto: “Come in for a book, stay for a beer.”

bacchus bar and bookshopBacchus Bar and Bookshop
Address:
Calle Donoso Cortes 58
Madrid (Metro: Arguelles or Moncloa)

bacchus bar and bookshop madrid








Website:
none

Phone and Email:
+34915447378

Working Hours:
Sun-Thu 17-01
Fri-Sat 17-02

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