You might remember a while back when I mentioned I want to move into Neil Gaiman’s library. No? Well, let me remind you:
It's a little bit of heaven right here on Earth
Yeah, that’s not going to work. Turns out that while I had images of Neil and I sipping tea and eating crepes while we wrote our novels together in his library, he just had images of a creepy stalker.
So, Neil’s library is out.
But! I found alternatives. Public alternatives. I am pretty sure nobody can call me a creepy stalker if I take up residence in any of these places:
City Library of Stolkholm, Sweden
El Ateneo bookstore in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Le Bal des Ardents bookstore in Lyon, France
Shakespeare & Co bookstore in Paris, France
Shakespeare & Co even offers a place for me to sleep!
For even more pictures of even more awesome bookstores and libraries, check out Most Interesting Bookstores and Most Interesting Libraries.
They’re, um, interesting.
6 Comments
El Ateneo reminds me of the library in Beauty and the Beast. I was always so jealous of Belle in that scene:)
I know! I thought the exact same thing when I first saw that picture. El Ateneo used to be a live theatre, and then a movie theatre, before being turned into a bookstore. If you follow that link to the Most Interesting Bookstores, you can also see a bookstore that is in a beautiful old church.
I am literally drooling over these pictures. I absolutely love the book smell. How delightful to have the delicate scent of leather and printed paper wafting through every corner. Aaaaahhhhhh…..bliss.
I agree–there is nothing quite like the smell of books. I love it!
Why are all the truly beautiful book stores and libraries in foreign countries? Makes me want to travel. Now I can go visit book stores and libraries as well as cemeteries!!!
There are some here! The New York Public Library is pretty beautiful, so I hear. But you are right – so many of the beautiful ones are in foreign countries.