This book fair is very popular among madrileños. The location, in the Retiro Park, is excellent and the atmosphere is perfect for a day with the kids.
In the stalls 203 and 204 you can buy books about Madrid (art, history, old photographies etc) some of them also in English, like the "Illustrated Atlas of the History of Madrid".

www.ferialibromadrid.com/media/docs/inoljbqf.pdf
In the Retiro Park from May 31st to June 16th.
Google map: bit.ly/ZpXKTp

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Situated right in the heart of literary Dublin (within a stone’s throw of Trinity College’s Lincoln Place entrance), Sweny’s Pharmacy is known to James Joyce experts as the chemist where Leopold Bloom from Ulysses goes to have a special lotion made, takes a look around the products displayed on the shelves and buys a bar of lemon soap. The shop welcomed its first customers in 1853 and was still up and running until 2009 when it was forced to face the prospect of closure. Thankfully, a group of volunteers decided to breathe new life into the premises and these days it doubles as a small bookshop, a venue for cultural events – most prominently for readings of Joyce’s works, as well as a place where you can browse and buy vintage jewellery and the famous soap, as mentioned in Ulysses:
“Mr. Bloom raised a cake to his nostrils. Sweet lemony wax. I’ll take this one, he said.”
The lemon soap has a zesty scent and makes for an unusual souvenir.
The book collection includes mainly second-hand books as well as Irish literature, history and politics. The shop has been preserved to look exactly as it did on Bloomsday in 1904 and is open late on Thursdays for readings.

www.sweny.ie/
1 Lincoln Place, Dublin 2
+ 353 (0)86 050 7995
Google map: bit.ly/PUav5q

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The name is not a reference to the gutter press, but refers instead to that uplifting Oscar Wilde quote “we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” The Gutter Bookshop is an independent bookshop situated in the Cow’s Lane area of Dublin’s popular Temple Bar. The owners of The Gutter have set out to offer something a little bit different than you’ll find in the bigger bookshop chains and they even run a book club that promises many lively discussions. Those buying for younger readers will find the childrens’ section is especially well-stocked.

www.gutterbookshop.com
Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin
+353 (0) 1 6799206
Google map: bit.ly/RcoMVz

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The Winding Stair may be famous for being one of Dublin’s best restaurants, but the bookshelves downstairs are by no means a novelty feature. Out front, this bookshop sells new titles while the smaller part at the back is home to second-hand books. It takes its name from a collection of poems by William Butler Yeats as well as the slightly crooked staircase that leads to some of Dublin's best cuisine. The bookshop's location is as Dublin as it gets, overlooking the Liffey with picture postcard views of the Ha'penny Bridge. Since the 1970s and 1980s it has been a meeting place for writers, musicians and artists and a backdrop for poetry, films and stories.
It is also home to a wide selection of books and also hard-to-find titles that are not normally stocked in the larger chains.
Tea and coffee are served in the window overlooking the Liffey. If you're in no rush to leave, you can even treat yourself to a glass of wine and enjoy a leisurely read.

www.winding-stair.com/
40 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland.
(+ 353) 1 8726576
Google map: bit.ly/OgjxF6

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Bikya is a cafe, bookstore and arts venue that manages to balance a relaxed atmosphere with being cool and quirky.
The books are all second-hand and are a real mix between the dusty old and the hardbacked new. The contrast between the modern decoration and traditional building is where the 'quirky' comes in to it, and the varied seating means you can have a brief visit or browse more leisurely while you grab something from the cafe.
Bikya occaisionally hosts live music, but also exhibits the work of local artists on the walls, and you can buy CDs and locally crafted products.
There are two branches of Bikya, one downtown and the other in the southern suburb of Maadi.

23 Dr. Zaky Hassan St.، NASR CITY، Nasr City, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
+20 2 24046688
Google map: bit.ly/PxjVUc

Bikya (new Maadi branch)
40 El Hadeyek Street (off Road 9, near McDonalds)
Nearest Metro: Sayarat El Maadi


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Whether I’m browsing, looking for the latest deal, or wanting to find a favourite novel without
paying the full price, I always head to BMV Books, which offers an enormous selection of mostly used books in near perfect condition. With three locations in Toronto, my favourite and
biggest is in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood – this one has three jam packed floors of books,
magazines, and videos.
I love supporting independent bookstores and this one is my favourite because of the fantastic
prices and great finds, including a very intelligent selection of books. I’ve located copies of classics and novels by foreign authors for less than $10 CDN. Several years ago, at the uptown
location, I bought treasures such as Elie Wiesel’s “The Jews of Silence”, signed by the author, as well as a very old leatherbound “Alice in Wonderland” with beautiful water colours.

www.bookstoronto.ca/bmv-books-annex
471 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada, M5S 1X9
+1 416 967 5757
Google map: bit.ly/RQP5Yh

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An Italian bookshop and cultural hub where you can peruse shelves of Italian texts and translations, and also pick from an huge list of wines from small producers in Toscana, Piemonte, Sicilia, Veneto, Sardegna to take away or drink in. In fact the owners “(gladly) travel all over Italy to find special wines that stimulate the imagination and the taste buds!” Piola Libri is particularly popular on the evenings when it hosts authors, poetry readings or groups of acoustic musicians – and will hold a re-
opening party on 16 September with band and DJ to mark the return-to-work in Brussels. The bar is known for its evening apéritif: breathe in and squish up for a glass of wine or Venetian Spritz and enjoy with some light appetizers on the house.

www.piolalibri.be/
66-68 rue Franklin, 1000 Brussels
+32(0)27369391
Google map: bit.ly/rf1yIc

Open weekdays 12:00 – 20:00 and Saturday 12:00 – 18:00, but often stays open later.
The bookshop opens an hour earlier on weekdays.


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I love mooching about in second-hand bookshops and London is packed full of them. I discovered a great place recently when sheltering from the summer rain after a lunch in Greenwich.
Halcyon Books is lined up to the high ceiling with shelves bursting with second-hand, out-of-print and new books on every subject under the sun.
It is possible to browse online and buy via email but there's really nothing like the smell of dusty old books to inspire and excite. It doesn't travel through the ether.
On my visit, all the second-hand books were selling for £1 each and I picked up some incredible bargains: a giant English-French-English dictionary and a massive Readers' Digest Complete Atlas of the British Isles. Two quid well spent!

www.halcyonbooks.co.uk
1 Greenwich South Street, London SE10 8NW
+44 208 305 2675
Open Mon-Sat 10.00-18.00, closed Sunday
Google map: bit.ly/qPzIWq

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This is the best English language bookshop in Rome. The owner Dermot O'Connell is a great source of information about the fantastic selection of books he stocks and will also be able to tell you where and where not to go. If you need a guide book, a good summer read, an Italian themed read or want to choose from his wide selection of non-fiction titles you must visit via del Moro 45. He also stocks some set books if you need something if you are studying in Rome. I love it!!!!

Via del Moro, 45, 00153 Rome, Italy
+39(0)6 5836942
Google map: bit.ly/pqIbbX

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The Album bookshop is a temple dedicated to the art of Bande dessinée, an extremely successful art form in the Francophone world, which has no equivalent in Britain or the USA. In Anglophone countries, comic strips are considered a mere entertainment mainly targeted at children. The expression graphic novel had to be coined to appeal to a more mature readership. In France, Belgium and Switzerland, dozens of young authors’ names and unique visual signatures catch people’s eyes whenever they pass a bookshop. Asterix alone has sold 326 million albums since its creation in 1961 and has been translated in 107 languages and dialects.

84, Boulevard St Germain, 75005 Paris, France
+33 1 43 25 25 68
www.album.fr
Google map: bit.ly/iRGyVd

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A secondhand bookshop with the largest selection in Amsterdam of books published in English. Wide variety of subjects, reasonable prices, and an interesting American owner. Highly recommended.

www.bookexchange.nl
Kloveniersburgwal 58, 1012 CX Amsterdam
+31 20 626 6266 ‎
Google map: bit.ly/jHnzZH

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A bookshop on Botanic Avenue in Belfast. The bookshop deals in crime fiction and the staff are knowledgeable and friendly. However, the bookshop (and fictionalized owner) are also a central character in the books "mystery man", "the day of the Jack Russell" and "Dr Yes" by Colin Bateman.

www.noalibis.com/
+44 (0)28 9031 9601
83 Botanic Avenue, Belfast, BT7 1JL
Google map: bit.ly/evUJMn

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As Canada's largest travel book store that also sells maps, luggage and every sort of travel accessory possible, it's the place to go for inspiration and solutions. The staff are all well travelled and able to give sound advice-they've helped me out a few times with finding info for places off the beaten path.

www.wanderlustore.com
1929 West Fourth Avenue, Vancouver
+1 604-739-2182
Google map: bit.ly/eEuXOD

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It is what it says, and doesn't seem to have a name. Its claim to be included here is that, although most of the books were in Romanian, or (in fact a majority) Hungarian, I found a Broons album there!

Up some steps in a courtyard off the Calea Repubblica, the main (pedestrian) shopping street in Oradea.

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This is a gem of a bookshop, luckily for me less than five minutes walk from my house. Consider it a more manageable, less touristy, less expensive version of Barter Books in Alnwick. Packed with thousands of second hand and antiquarian books, on all levels and in all corners of a victorian townhouse, with very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Great to spend some time here on a wet Saturday.

www.keelrowbookshop.co.uk/
11 Fenwick Terrace, Preston Road, North Shields
Tyne & Wear, NE29 0LU
+44(0)191 296 0664
Google map: bit.ly/9afDzM

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This is a great second hand book shop in central Bangkok near BTS Phrom Phong with a lovely cafe inside. The staff are very friendly and all books are catalogued and can be accessed through their website or just ask one of their helpful staff to look it up in-store for you. What's also great about Dasa is that once you have read a book bought from there you can take it back and they will discount your next purchase. This is a gem of a book shop for both ex-pats and travellers passing through.

www.dasabookcafe.com/
+66(0)2 661 2993
714/4 Sukhumvit Road (Soi 26-28)
Klongtan, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110

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A gem of a bookshop, squeezed in a picturesque row of independent shops, in this seaside town more famous for oysters than books. Harbour Books is a tardis, crammed full of tempting titles. The wonderful staff have an amazing knowledge of the stock and every personal recommendation has never yet disappointed. A fair proportion of the stock is carefully selected remaindered titles, meaning great variety at a good price (many are under £3). This shop certainly stocks some best-sellers, but even more likely are many great reads that have just not made the mass-market. The children’s section has produced endless presents and its quality can be assured by my 10-year-old niece who asks in equal delight if we can go to the bookshop and traditional sweet shop next door. The most telling sign is that it is impossible to visit without a purchase (or so my own small scale research has found).

21 Harbour Street, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1AQ
+44(0)1227 264 011
Google map: bit.ly/dqM3fu

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Just two minutes from the poseurs of Bondi, behind a front so unassuming you will walk past it the first time, is this gem which calls itself a ‘bookstore café’. As to its dual identity, it is really a bookshop first, and you take your spiced chai latte to find a perch amongst the piled tomes. Photos and prints of favourite authors fill any remaining wall space. The owners put on events and sell antiquarian as well as cheap second hand. It is so deliciously unexpected it is worth the hunt. You can reward yourself with a hunk of cake when you find it.

46 Hall St, Bondi Beach, Sydney
www.gertrudeandalice.com.au/
+61(0)29130 5155
Google map: bit.ly/cTrx0F

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Allow a minimum of two hours to visit this bookshop. It is a three storey shop full from top to bottom with, suprisingly enough, books, as a bookshop ought to be. Expect a voyage of discovery challenging you to uncover new areas of learning, to become lost in a world of words. It is a beautiful sort of heaven, something from a most incredible dream, a treasure cave. When your brain and body need a rest from this unique experience, you can recover in the cafe where tasty food will delight you. There is nowhere else quite like Scarthin Books, the very best book shop, wherever in the world you start from.

Scarthin Books, The Promenade, Scarthin, Cromford, Derbyshire DE4 3QF
www.scarthinbooks.com
+44(0)1629 823272
Google map: bit.ly/afTzBF

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A short walk from Ely Station, past the glorious cathedral rising out from the Fens, on the unpretentious High Sreet, you'll find this wonderful bookshop. Walk in through the modest frontage into the comfort of a labyrinth of aesthetic shelved rooms on three floors. Knowledgable staff are happy to help, recommend and advise; but equally happy to leave you to browse, even encouraging this by bringing freshly brewed coffee or tea. Regular, meet the author, events are also held.

9 High Street, Ely, CB7 4LJ
www.toppingbooks.co.uk
+44(0)1353 645005
Google map: bit.ly/d1UFSm

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