Not actually a library but a bookstore, this shop in Venice, Italy has a very distinct water theme (which helps when it floods). It’s worth popping over for a look if you’re a fan of the series… though perhaps don’t try going down into the basement (if for no other reason than because the glass cage scenes weren’t filmed on location). That’s because the exterior and the front interior of the shop is used as Mooney’s bookstore in the Netflix show You. Now, Logos Bookstore in New York isn’t anything too remarkable in its own right (though I’m sure it’s just as impressive as most other bookstores)… but it is a little famous. The sections that follow are easy to get lost in, and eventually emerge into an art gallery of all things, followed by a series of local art and craft shops (still within the bookstore). There are tunnels made from books, and other hardbacks which have been arranged in such a way that people can poke their heads through the resulting circle for Instagram pictures (yes, I’m guilty of this). The upper floor starts off with a display of books fluttering out from a bookcase and a typewriter whose paper ream is spilling out above the staircase. The other is for storing their horror section, which presumably might sprout tentacles and escape if not properly secured at night.Īnd that’s just the beginning. What’s more, the building used to a bank, and they still use a couple of the vaults (complete with large industrial doors). It’s perhaps even more wonderful, however – it’s designed in an enchanting, labyrinthian way that takes a new visitor constantly by surprise.įirst of all, it’s worth mentioning that The Last Bookstore made an appearance in the film Gone Girl (watch the film and you’ll know which scene). Though it is by no means as large as Powell’s City of Books, Los Angeles’ The Last Bookstore is the largest new and used bookstore in California. The whole chain buys about 3,000 used books each and every day.Īlthough I didn’t see it during my recent visit, Powell’s City of Books has also been the home of an Espresso Book Machine since 2012 – a device that offers instant print-on-demand books, which I reported on in a Weekly Write Up a few months back. It has nine colour-coded rooms (splitting the store by genres, and each room the size of most regular bookstores), 3,500 different sections, and its inventory lists over four million titles. In fact, with 68,000 square feet (1.6 acres) of floor space, it claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the whole world – a claim I’m quite willing to believe. It turns out that Powell’s City of Books really is a city of books.
It has its own car park, for crying out loud! It took a while, because City of Books takes up an entire city block. Then I kept walking along the street towards its entrance. Like a local library, the sort which counts a single atlas as its travel section. Based in the city of Portland in Oregon, it looked a little, well… small. When I first saw the sign for Powell’s City of Books (part of the Powell’s Books independent chain), I wasn’t too impressed. I came across a couple on my recent vacation. We’re talking unique, notable and sometimes downright weird independent stores – some of which are featured in movies, some of which transform the act of looking for a book into something wonderful or weird. We’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill Barnes & Noble or Waterstones here. Some bookshops stand out amongst all others, however. That way I go in with no purpose or aim other than to wander through the aisles and shelves, discovering new titles and authors and, on occasion, a few surprises along the way.Īnd, of course, to make a beeline towards those authors of whom I’m a massive fan, to find out how big their selection is and to see if there are any books of theirs which are hard to come by anywhere else. Personally, I prefer visiting them when I don’t have a particular book in mind to purchase (or any book at all, in fact).