150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before you Die

by Elizabeth Stamp

The most interesting bookstores in the world, collected in one beautifully bound volume After 150 Bars, Restaurants, Hotels, Houses, Gardens, Golf Courses and Vineyards this is the eighth book in the internationally successful 150 series Selected and written by American author Elizabeth Stamp, journalist at Architectural Digest & CNN

For the enthusiastic reader and book lover, browsing through a bookshop is an irreplaceable experience. American author Elizabeth Stamp selected the 150 most unique bookstores in the world that are worth making a detour to visit. From Australia to France, and Japan to the United States, the bookstores here range from establishments that have been around for decades, to newly opened shops. Each shop has been selected for an outstanding feature, either an interesting backstory, a unique collection, or a fabulous setting. This handsomely bound book, the latest in the 150 series, has inspiring photographs and a wealth of information on each location.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Books About Books, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 8, 2023

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

FIND IT HERE, BUY IT HERE, KEEP US HERE!

Why do they have to be so dramatic?...Why before you die?...I mean I don’t know about you, but I’d be happy enough with “150 Bookstores You Need To Visit!” I don’t need the threat of death to encourage me. Anyway...

Although really nicely packaged and presented, with plenty of colourful photos this is disappointingly light on the text front – all the more strange considering its aimed at bibliophiles?...I would also have liked to have seen cleaner transitions between continents, rather than just some contextless photos and then we're suddenly in a totally different part of the world?...

I suppose like any of these sorts of books, it’s all about personal opinion – as far as I can tell I’ve only been in three of these and without naming a certain bookstore I know fairly well - I'd say that although the woman who owns it is very friendly and helpful I wouldn’t say that it’s anything other than just n average, pleasant bookstore and it certainly wouldn’t have made my essential list, never mind a global list, which made me very suspicious of some of the other choices too– but hey each to their own.

I mind visiting Shakespeare & Co last summer and after queuing with tourists who seemed more interested in selfies and scrolling than books I got inside – where I saw someone who looked suspiciously like Angelina Jolie reading in a corner?...Although an enjoyable and impressive enough store to wander around, it wasn't worthy of the ridiculous hype and their cafe next door was definitely a cramped and anti-climactic experience on every level - but still at least there was an Invader mosaic nearby to enjoy!

It has to be said that the award for the worst idea of a bookstore in here must go to the converted butcher book shop in Zurich, which looked like one of the claustrophobic sets from the "Saw" franchise - after a long shoot. OK since I've been doing a lot of moaning I should probably finish on a positive - some of the ones in Tokyo look incredible as to so many of the others scattered throughout Western Europe and elsewhere. Many of them forever coming up in these sorts of books and I suppose that's the thing about this book - it was an enjoyable enough read, but there was really nothing about it to distinguish it above the countless other book list bookstore books.

[Neil Pasricha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots to like about this book! Lots to not like, too. But let’s start with the positive: It's a beautiful, colorful collection of some of the world’s most stunning bookstores, paired with a 200-ish word writeup mentioning what makes each unique – from the “Winnie Mandela mural” (​Cheche Books​, Nairobi, Kenya), Pacific Northwest section (​Arundel Books​, Seattle, Washington), or unique, store-made stationary (​Podpisnie Izdaniya​, St. Petersburg, Russia). Cliffside bookstores! Main Street Mississippi bookstores! Glass boxes in the middle of Chinese jungle bookstores! Everything’s here!

Or: so it seems. Then you look closer. And realize it's not. So that’s my quibble. The book just isn’t in any way … authoritative. Like here in Toronto, for instance. We’ve got one bookstore featured from the city. Great! But, no offense to ​Queen Books​, they picked the wrong one. ​Type Books​, which Queen Books is clearly based on, is not featured – but Type is superior. More history, more events, more weird genres (“Plotless Fiction” becoming so culty they’ve ​stamped it on T-shirts now​.) Or what about the four-story baby-blue behemoth ​BMV​? Way more of a standout on the Toronto bookstore scene, with its entirely-graphic-novel attic, basement full of vintage 70s pinup mags, and lock-and-key rare book glass shelves featuring $700 dictionaries. And no ​Monkey’s Paw​? Come on. There’s a reason Monkey’s Paw is ​featured in Atlas Obscura​. The place sells “Old and Unusual Printed Matter” and has the world’s only Biblio-Mat – an ​incredible book vending machine​! How do you skip any of those for newbie Queen Books? Or ​Parnassus Books​ in Nashville, or ​The Painted Porch​ in Bastrop, or ​Nowhere Bookshop​ in San Antonio?

How do you miss them? By… uh, not visiting. Yes, upon closer inspection, the book is written by Elizabeth Stamp, about whom we get 0 biographical info. Is she a bookseller? Book tourist? Book anything? Where does ... she live? Nobody knows! (I googled her and the answer is none of the above.) Stamp just picked, according to the intro, “bookstores I’d want to visit.” Ohhhhh. Want to visit. That’s why the Photo Credits at the back have a slew of iStockPhotos. Booooooooo! I give credit to Belgium-based Lannoo Publishing. They’ve figured something out. I know this book will look pretty on coffee tables but we need someone to fly around the world for a few years to put together something better. Who’s up for the job?

[Eliza Pillsbury]

I really want to step up my domestic and Central/South American travel in 2025

[Els · Rating 5 out of 5]

150 Bookstores you need to visit before you die. Door: Elizabeth Stamp.

Wow, een nieuwe bijbel. Dit wordt de nieuwste reisgids voor boeken(-winkel) liefhebbers. Ikzelf ben een grote fan van onafhankelijke boekenwinkels (trots aandeelhouder van De Groene Waterman, jammer genoeg nog niet in dit boek opgenomen) én van boeken. Mijn ideale uitje is een dagje boekenwinkels combineren met taartjes en thee. Ideaal als beide op dezelfde locatie kunnen.

Dit boek is de kers op de taart: wereldwijd de beste boekenwinkels, geselecteerd door Stamp. Sommigen voor hun architectuur, anderen voor hun gespecialiseerde aanbod. Elke winkel krijgt een korte introductie én een prachtige foto. Ik blader met grote ogen en veel goesting door dit boek.

Hoewel ik al vele winkels bezocht deed ik er nog maar 3 aan (in 2 landen) die in dit boek staan: Luddites, Theoria en Dominicanen. Nog 147 te gaan, zin in!

Komende zomer ga ik naar Engeland, ik kan al wat te bezoeken plaatsen aan ons lijstje toevoegen;) Dikke merci aan Elizabeth Stamp en Lannoo voor dit geweldige hebbeding, mijn nieuwe bucketlist.

[Mrs.Bee.17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful photos and lots of great destinations. And while the book is meant to lack a certain depth with its surface level overviews of each store, this reader needed a bit more. And nitpicky though it may seem, the photos needed captions. Obviously it’s the bookstore but which section of it? Which facade is it? Why is this photo the one chosen to represent the store and its place on the list? Captions giving more detail as to the time and specific place of the photos might’ve helped answer this question.

[Hasini Garikapati · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a piece of paradise for bookstore / library lovers. I m so glad to pick this new book from library. From a bookstore in a forest in China to bookcafe in alps in Turin to a book place in porto in a neo gothic building, the book transports to the most beautiful and unique book places in the world. Cant get enough of it.

P.S a book about libraries or addituon of libraries in this one would ve been even better

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful journey! I have actually visited two of these bookstores- in two different countries of the Americas- and hope to visit some more in many continents eventually. The pictures and information take you right to the bookstores and make you want to learn more. If you come to Tampa, make sure to swing by the Oxford Exchange- and a big thank you to the author for doing a two-page spread for this jewel in my city.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book on bookshops is a good book in my view. This book has an overview of 150 bookshops around the world, with beautiful photos and nice descriptions. The list of 150 can be argued, I missed some of the bookshops I visited and really liked, and some of the listed bookshops look more beautiful and designer than that they seem to be what I qualify as a great bookshop.
But I think that is the basis of every list, it can be argued and that is part of the appeal.

[Nancy Cormier · Rating 3 out of 5]

150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before you Die by Elizabeth Stamp is a collection of bookstores worldwide that the author feels everyone should visit in their lifetime. Each library must have a unique qualification to be added. Lots of pictures and half page description of each selection. Some have themes, some offer community support in some manner, and some have famous locations. Interesting for people who love bookstores.

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title should’ve been “150 bookstores I want to visit” because that was what the introduction says. Not sure the person responsible for the list has actually been to said bookstores.

Two stars because it’s a nice compilation as in the photos were nice but were they taken specifically from this book or were these stock photos?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully produced one page guide to distinctive and famous bookshops around the world – the disappointing aspect that it seems to have been based on desktop research and stockphoto illustrations and would I think have worked much better with a range of contributors who had actually visited the stores.

[Claire Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were bookstores & book towns I wish were in here (Hay-on-Wye in Wales for example) and I thought some of the photos didn't do some of the stores justice (Hatchard's for example), but overall a fun journey around the book world.

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pure joy from beginning to end! A slice of heaven!

[marit ♡]

the disappointment when you realize you’ve only visited *one* of the 150

[Simona · Rating 1 out of 5]

80% are normal looking bookstores, nothing more. Nothing interesting.

[Jonathan Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible to just pick 150 it seems to me. There are bookstores in Toronto, Galway and Reykjavik, just to select some cities I’ve visited that probably deserve being in the top 150.

[Robert Segovia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and beautiful coffee table book if you love book stores. Beautiful pictures of bookstores around the world. Not much depth but it casts a wide net.

[Nicole Sister · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ coffee table book collection grows! To plan a trip around magical bookstores, yes please!! Book inspiration for this.

[Inge Quets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book. To my taste: there could have been more bookstores included, cause there are so many extraordinary bookstores around the world. Also an edition on beautiful or exceptional libraries is a good idea!