The World's Great Bookshops

To inspire you to feel the same we've handpicked our favorite bookshops from around the globe. There are some truly magical bookstores out there, if you just know where to look.
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Here at Black Tomato we love a good book, and we're definitely advocates for keeping traditional books alive and the bookshops in which they live. To inspire you to feel the same we've handpicked our favorite bookshops from around the globe. There are some truly magical bookstores out there, if you just know where to look.

The Book Barge, UK(01 of05)
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A marvellous idea; a floating bookshop on a canal boat that meanders along the UK waterways at a blissfully slow pace. The book barge promotes a less hurried pace of life, complete with cups of tea, good conversation, culture and of course, a stunning collection of books to satisfy even the most insatiable literary appetite. One's thing's for sure, this is a bookshop that's going places.
Livraria Da Vila, Sao Paulo(02 of05)
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This aesthetically beautiful bookshop in Sao Paulo, Brazil, literally has books in every nook-and-cranny, even the front doors are functioning bookshelves and the walls are lined from floor to ceiling. Combining contemporary architecture and literature, this impeccably designed bookshop is a visual feast and a bookworms dream.
Selexy Dominicanen's, Netherlands(03 of05)
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This bookstore is quite literally, literary heaven. The soaring Gothic structure of this old Dominican Church turned three-storey bookshop is the holy grail for book-lovers. The Gothic naves where parishioners once prayed are now lined with Bookshelves. From the uppermost levels, book browsers can gaze at the stunning architecture of the ceiling frescoes, ornate columns, and row upon row of books. Reading here feels like a sacred activity. Pull up a pew and get lost in a good book. Amen to that.
John King's Books, Detroit(04 of05)
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John Kings Used and Rare Bookstore in Detroit, USA, is five stories of wistful wooden bookshelves, crammed with old books marked by cardboard signs and hand-drawn maps. A former 1940's glove factory, much of the original factory signs are still in place adding a certain romantic antiquity to this already magical bookstore. The derelict and somewhat decrepit exterior only goes to show that you really can't tell a book by its cover.
Lello Bookshop, Porto, Portugal(05 of05)
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Possibly one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, the century-old, art nouveau Lello Bookshop in Porto, is simply stunning. From its neogothic facade to its carved wood interior and stained glass ceiling the Lello Bookshop has to be seen to be believed. The magnificent blood red spiral staircase is the centrepiece of the shop, climbing the steps to the second floor is literally like climbing the staircase to literary heaven. It's a lucky book that gets to live on these shelves.

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