10 unique bookshops that are just a bit extra

This Bauhaus-influenced shop sits just a short walk away from the shores of the Baltic Sea. Bunte Stube is a historic cultural shop in Ahrenshoop, founded in 1922 as a small family-run business and has gradually become a beloved social and artistic center of the village. Over the past decades, it has brought together loads of beautiful books, arts and crafts.

This packed yet tidy bookshop is denser than it looks. Browse new releases front and center, or wander through the dual rooms of stacks, including a small used section in the rear. Named for Liz Phair’s breakout album, the shop carries a small selection of vinyl for sale, and the owners’ personal collections provide the soundtrack.

Step inside this independent bookshop for niche, rare and out-of-print books covering a wide array of topics. Think Hispanic and Black heritage, books on female artists, experimental publications and even suggestions labeled as 'curiosity black hole' and 'Being sad, just because'. 

This is a bookstore to get lost in, which is easy in this cavernous 22.000-squarefoot space. Sure, the name is ironic, but the love for printed matter is real; this is California’s largest used and new bookstore, and wandering its floors is entering another world. Don’t miss the Arts & Rare Books Annex.

This library, which originated in a private archive, narrates the history of fashion and clothing from the mid-19th century to the present, with magazines, publications – some very rare, catalogues, and lookbooks. They also have magazines specialised in knitwear, accessories and jewellery. An accessible and searchable collection.

A very unique English secondhand bookshop you’ll probably remember forever. Some of the books are for sale, most of them are for rent. They specialise in LGBTQ+ and POC topics and host regular cultural events and readings. Their ‘Queer Stories’ is highly recommended. You might even find us there, reading one of our Berlin Stories.

This wandering bookshop tried out several locations in Lisbon until it settled a few years ago in the hipster-chic LX Factory project, occupying a former warehouse lined with bookshelves. It has a loyal crowd of followers, which explains its resilience in today’s difficult times for booksellers.

More than just a bookshop, Octopus Books is a local meeting point where they promote conversations and the exchange of ideas through literature. They have a great children's selection on themes of social awareness, history, life skills and sex education for young readers, in both English and French.

There are several La Central stores across town, but we’re recommending this one because of its pleasant cafe upstairs, with a terrace and excellent pastries. The ground floor has a more than decent English literature section. All the other sections (art, philosophy, science, history…) will have a fair selection of English-language books scattered among the Spanish ones, so do browse: La Central is the most complete bookstore in town.

Here is a former church, in the medieval fortified city of Zwolle, that was converted into a bookshop. Three open floors were added during the radical renovation of the 15th-century Broeren church, turning it into a book lover's haven where you can browse for hours on end.