---

Friends! The Critiquing Chemist was started out of a desire to keep an organized list of the books I’ve read and my general thoughts if I wanted to reflect back in the future. Five and a half years ago, when my first post went live, The Martian by Andy Weir, I never imagined that my blog grow to over 5,000 followers. I’m so very thankful for the support and sense of community I’ve found all over the world from my blogging family. I would not still be blogging if not for these treasured interactions! With reaching other follower milestones (1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000) I have organized various lists of quotes, books, and bookstores. With 5,000 followers I was excited to compile a list of the world’s most beautiful bookstores. I scoured list after list after list of compatible collections. It should be no surprise that I tallied the stores and below you’ll find the bookshops that showed up most often during my searches. I’ve thankfully been to three of them and hope to eventually add more to my list, especially El Ateneo Grand Splendid. Again, thank you to all of you and I eagerly took forward all of the reading in our futures.

What bookstores are your favorite that did not make my list?

---

1. El Ateneo Grand Splendid
   Buenos Aires, Argentina
   
   (Photo by BugWarp)
   
2. Shakespeare and Company
   Paris, France
   
   (Photo by Mike Peel)
   
3. Livraria Lello
   Porto, Portugal
   
   (Photo by Morray)
   
4. Boekhandel Dominicanen
   Maastricht, Netherlands
   
   (Photo by Dronepicr)
   
5. Libreria Acqua Alta
   Venice, Italy
   
   (Photo by GodeNehler)
   
6. Cafebreria El Pendulo
   Mexico City, Mexico
   
   (Photo by StellarD)
   
7. Atlantis Books
   Oia, Santorini, Greece
   
   (Photo by NorbertNagel)
   
8. The Last Bookstore
   Los Angeles, California, United States
   
   (Photo by Sarah Y Lockwood)
   
9. Bart’s Books
   Ojai, California, United States
   
   (Photo by Dreamyshade)
   
10. Cook & Book
    Brussels, Belgium
    
    (Photo by Eliseo Oliveras)
    
11. Barter Books
    Alnwick, United Kingdom
    
    (Photo by GeographBot)
    
12. Daunt Books
    London, United Kingdom
    
    (Photo by JRennocks)
    
13. Poplar Kid’s Republic
    Beijing China
    
    (Photo: Courtesy of http://www.poplar.com.cn/)
    
14. Livraria Ler Devagar
    Lisbon, Portugal
    
    (Photo: Courtesy of António Campos Leal)
    
15. John K. King Rare and Used Books
    Detroit, Michigan, United States
    
    (Photo by Sarah Y. Lockwood)
    
16. Powell’s Books
    Portland, Oregon
    
    (Photo by Another Believer)
    
17. Brattle Bookshop
    Boston, United States
    
    (Photo by Rebef)
    
18. Housing Works Bookstore Café
    New York, New York, United States
    
    (Photo by Marginalmonkeys)
    
19. Zhongshuge Bookstore
    Hangzhou, China
    
    (Photo from Shutterstock)
    
20. Librairie Avant-Garde
    Nanjing, China
    (4)
    
    (Photo by: 猫猫的日记本)
    
21. Cărturești Carusel
    Bucharest, Romania
    
    (Photo by: Mihai Petre)
    

---

Honorable Mention

I scoured list after list after list to compile the above collection of beautiful bookstores. In true analytical fashion I organized a spreadsheet of all of the bookstores I came across and have them listed below. The bookstores with with an asterisk should have been in the list above, but alas I was not able to find usable images for any of these stunning bookstores.

• Livraria da Vila – Sao Paulo, Brazil*
• Corso Como – Milan, Italy*
• The Bookworm – Beijing, China*
• Bookabar – Rome, Italy*
• City Lights Books – San Francisco, California, United States
• Housing Works Bookstore Café – New York, New York United States
• Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar – Asheville, North Carolina
• Faulkner House Books – New Orleans, Louisiana
• Honesty Bookshop – Hay-on-Wye, Wales, United Kingdom
• The American Book Center – Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Livraria Cultura – Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Daikanyama T-Site – Tokyo, Japan
• Librairie des Colonnes – Tanger, Morocco
• The Jazzhole – Lagos, Nigeria
• The Book Lounge, Cape Town, South Africa
• Diwan Bookstore – Cairo, Egypt
• Book World – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Clarke’s Bookshop – Cape Town, South Africa
• Chez Alpha Books – Dakar, Senegal
• Exclusive Books – Johannesburg, South Africa
• Books Now – Bendigo, Australia
• Angus & Robertson Bookworld – Sydney, Australia
• Fuller’s Bookshop – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
• McLeod’s Booksellers – Rotorua, New Zealand
• Gertrude and Alice Bookshop – Bondi Beach, Australia
• Fang Suo Commune – Chengdu, China
• VVG Something – Taipei, Taiwan
• Kyobo Bookstore – Seoul, South Korea
• BOA Bookstore – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Fully Booked – Manila, Phillipines
• Kidazawa Bookstore – Chiyoda, Japan
• Kitab Khana Bookstore – Mumbai, India
• Magrundy’s – Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Atta Galatta – Bangalore, India
• What the Book? – Seoul, South Korea
• BooksActually – Singapore
• Book and Bed – Tokyo, Japan
• Sefer Ve Sefel – Jerusalem, Israel
• Saraiva – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
• Puro Verso – Montevideo, Uruguay
• Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights – Bath, England
• Biblio Globus Bookstore – Moscow, Russia
• Livraria Leonardo da Vinci – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Libreria Wilborada – Bogotá, Colombia
• San Librario Libros – Bogotá, Colombia
• Spitting Llama Bookstore – Copacabana, Bolivia
• Feria Chilena del Libro – Santiago, Chile
• Librairie Ptyx – Brussels, Belgium
• Merci Used Book Cafe – Paris, France
• Liberia Altair – Barcelona, Spain
• Librairie La Fontaine – Lausanne, Switzerland
• Assouline – London, United Kingdom
• Waanders in de Broeren – Zwolle, Netherlands
• Antiquariat Michel Solder – Munster, Germany
• Neusser Buch & Kunst – Aquariat, Germany
• The Bookshop – Wigtown, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Globe Bookstore and Café – Prague, Czech Republic
• Le Bal Des Ardents – Lyon, France
• Livraria Bertrand – Lisbon, Portugal
• Le Pont Traverse – Paris, France
• The Academic Bookstore – Helsinki, Finland
• Word on the Water – London, United Kingdom
• Leakey’s Bookshop – Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Evripidis Bookshop – Athens, Greece
• Hatchards – London, United Kingdom
• Pages of Hackney – London, United Kingdom
• Antikvariat Cunjak – Ljubijana, Slovenia
• Lutyen & Runinstein – London, United Kingdom
• Blackwell’s Bookshop – Oxford, United Kingdom
• Judd Books – London, United Kingdom
• Open Door Bookshop – Rome, Italy
• The Madhatter Bookshop – Burford, United Kingdom
• Barton’s Bookshop – Leatherhead, United Kingdom
• Les Bouquinistes – Paris, France
• Scarthin Books – Matlock, United Kingdom
• Foyles Bookshop – London, United Kingdom
• Addyman Books – Hay-on-Wye, Wales, United Kingdom
• Montague Book Mill – Montague, Massachusetts, United States
• The Writer’s Block – Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
• Idlewild Books – New York, New York, United States
• Baldwin Book Barn – West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
• BookBar – Denver, Colorado, United States
• Dickson Street Bookshop – Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States
• Armadillo’s Pillow – Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Book Loft of German Village – Columbus, Ohio, United States
• Northshire Bookstore – Mancheser Center, Vermont, United States
• Taylor Books – Charleston, West Virginia, United States
• Elliott Bay Book Company – Seattle, Washington, United States
• Small World Books – Venice, California, United States
• The Book Lady Bookstore – Savannah, Georgia, United States
• Eureka Books – Eureka, California, United States
• Russell Books – Victoria, British Colombia, Canada
• San Francisco Book CO – San Francisco, California, United States
• Capitol Hill Books – Washington D.C., United States
• Cuba Libro – Havana, Cuba
• Wendel’s Bookstore – Langley City, British Colombia, Canada
• Still Life Books – Hilo, Hawaii, United States
• The Lit Bar – Bronx, New York, United States
• Magers and Quinn – Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
• Libros AC – Puerto Rico, United States
• A Cappella Books – Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• Munro’s Books – Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• The Secret Headquarters – Los Angeles, California, United States
• The Book Barn – Niantic, Connecticut, United States
• Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar – Asheville, North Carolina, United States
• Oxford Exchange – Tampa Florida, United States
• Brazenhead Books – New York, New York, United States
• Prairie Lights – Iowa City, Iowa, United States
• Boulder Books – Boulder, Colorado, United States
• Albertine Books – New York, New York, United States
• Books & Books – Coral Gables, Florida, United States
• Politics & Prose – Washington D.C., United States
• Parnassus Books – Nashville, Tennessee, United States
• The Mystery Bookshop – Manhattan, New York, United States

---