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| Barter Books, Alnwick, England | |
You've seen the lists hundreds of times, and can never resist the temptation to click through. Just Google the terms bookstore and world. The first page--of more than 250 million hits--offers up The 10 Most Famous Bookstores in the World; 15 Magical Bookstores Around the World; 26 Bookstores Every Book Lover Must Visit in Their Lifetime; 13 Best Independent Bookstores in the World; 15 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World; and 22 Most Bucketlist-Worthy Bookstores in the World.
It's a bookish rabbit hole, my friends, and we always dive in head first. The latest variation to cross my virtual desk came from the Financial Times, which showcased the "Most Brilliant Bookshops in the World," with FT writers choosing their favorite "awe-inspiring places to get your literary fix."
Many of the usual suspects were there: Atlantis Books in Santorini, Greece; Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France; Dujiangyan Zhongshuge Bookstore in Chengdu, China; El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, Argentina; as well as U.S. stalwarts Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., and the Strand in New York City.
There were also some booksellers I hadn't often seen hit these lists before, including Jazzhole in Lagos, Nigeria; Kitab Khana in Mumbai, India; Ler Devagar in Lisbon, Portugal; Librairie les insolites à Tanger in Tangier, Morocco; Open House in Bangkok, Thailand; Otherwise in Rome, Italy; along with U.S. booksellers Marfa Book Company, Marfa, Tex.; and New York's Printed Matter and the Schomburg Shop.
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| The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles | |
Every list is subjective, of course, and key adjectives like best, brilliant, beautiful, famous, magical, Instagrammable or, yes, bucketlist-worthy, muddy the criteria further and are geared to spark debates.
Which is why I'm a big fan of the comments section under these lists, when available. Prepare for the "What about...?" floodgates to open, naturally, but there's so much more to be found.
"Here be FT comments at their best," one wag noted days after that bookshop list appeared. So I was inspired to venture down the rabbit hole, where I encountered:
Polite suggestions: Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal, a consistent addition to such lists, came up early as MIA on this list.
Criticism: "Come on! No list of bookshops is complete if they omit Venice's Libreria Acqua Alta! This is the quintessential of all bookshops."
Civilized pseudo-compliment: "A very peculiar list, but with some interesting stores--and several not so interesting."
Chain bookstore fan: "Waterstones Piccadilly better than all these."
Kindle advocate: "My last visits to physical bookstores now were almost 2 years ago."
Geographical critic: "Spectacular, but bookshop desert east from Germany to the Pacific?"
Bay Area loyalist: "From the highly literate Bay Area, I'd add Moe's Books in Berkeley, and City Lights Bookstore (founded by the recently departed Beatnik, Lawrence Ferlinghetti) and Green Apple Books in San Francisco."
Sequel fan: "There are lots more that would qualify of course, like City Lights, on a list necessarily selective and a bit arbitrary. Suggest you do a second instalment!"
Non-reader: "I hardly ever read books. Is that necessarily detrimental to my 'learning?' Well, I can only absorb 'so much.' I figure I'll never be 'a genius' anyway."
Former Hatchard's bookseller: "Agree! I worked there for a time and fondly remember selling three Ruth Rendell books to a man looking for 'something smutty' in the crime section. I told him they were full of shocking innuendo. Still makes me laugh:)"
Cynic: "I've been to these bookshops and they're all about photos for WeChat moments, not for books. You get in the way of people's photo shoots if you browse for books."
Political skeptic (and FT reader?): "Globalist, consumerist nonsense."
Just came here for an argument dude: "Strange amazon does not figure on the list."
Puzzled: "I don't really understand the point of this article? Most brilliant bookshop for what?"
FT comment section aficionado: "This was bound to inspire an infinite indulgent and good-humoured thread. I just love the comments."
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| Powell's | |
A more traditional letter-to-the-editor was sent to FT from Russell Bishop of London and Maarten Klaassen of Amsterdam, the Netherlands: "Being faithful readers of the FT we were excited to see your article 'The most brilliant bookshops in the world.' As two friends living in different countries, a mutual love of books means organizing rendezvous around bookshops. Contrary to normal, we feel this time round you barely scratched the surface.... Be it as it may, the article did inspire us to commit to meeting in Powell's, Portland, as soon as is practical."
A worthy goal, and one of many reasons these lists continue to appear because this is what a best bookshops rabbit hole is meant to do. It's irresistible. In fact, even as I was writing this column, I noticed that Australia's Market Herald had just published a piece headlined "Seven of the Most Charming Bookshops in the World," noting: "If you consider yourself a true bookworm then there's simply no better way to explore a new city than through its best bookstores.... From surreal castle-like bookshops to historical literary havens, here are some of the most incredible bookshops you should visit on your travels." The lists, and the debates, go on and on. We wouldn't have it any other way.