1. Polare , Maastricht
As a start-up that aims to sell fiction through online subscription is hailed as the future of books, what place is there for the humble bookstore? The future of one iconic seller is currently uncertain. The Polare bookstore in Maastricht came under threat when Polare declared bankruptcy in February. It remains open for the time being under the name 'Boekhandel Dominicanen' but staff have launched a crowdfunding campaign to save it from closure. Converted from a 13th Century Dominican church in 2006 by architects Merkx+Girod (now Merk X), Polare is a temple of books that raises reading to a religious experience. (Photo: Merkx+Girod)
書店位於荷蘭的 Masstricht 小鎮，由建築師 Merkx X 於2006年將13世紀的教堂改建而成，由優雅莊嚴的教堂，轉變成現代時尚的閱讀環境，教人驚嘆。
2. El Ateneo, Buenos Aires
Visitors can go from stage to page at this Argentinian icon. First built as the Teatro Grand Splendid in 1919, before becoming a cinema in 1929, El Ateneo appeals to the dramatic reader. With frescoed ceilings, ornate carvings and plush red stage curtains, it has retained its original splendour: customers can sit in the theatre boxes to browse in comfort. (Photo: Carlos Toledo/catoledo
位於阿根廷的華麗書店是當地的著名觀光景點，1919年開業時是 Teatro Grand Splendid 大劇院，後來轉營為戲院，最後改建為書店。
3. Libreria Acqua Alta , Venice
Could this be the world’s only underwater bookstore? Translating as ‘high water bookshop’, its canalside spot means an extra level of organisation for staff: the rubber boot-wearing owner has to move his books from the floor to bathtubs and higher shelves during regular flooding. Justine Kibler, who took this picture when she visited in November 2013, said: “Venice is flooded. People are wading along the streets in a foot or two of water and the buildings are boarded up. But the Libreria Acqua Alta is still open for business. In fact it’s in its element.” (Photo: Justine Kibler)
水城威尼斯的一家有名「水底書店」，每次下雨時店長都會穿起雨靴將書搬上高地，即使近年水位持續上漲，書店仍然堅持留守每日開放。
4. Librairie Avant-Garde , Nanjing
Called China’s most beautiful bookshop, Nanjing’s Librairie Avant-Garde was built inside a former government car park that had also been a bomb shelter. To find their way into the 4,000 sq m underground space beneath Wutishan Stadium, visitors follow a yellow-striped road; inside, a replica of Rodin’s The Thinker sits alongside a cash till made out of old books, and pillars with famous literary verses carved into them. Another branch of the shop is housed inside Nanjing’s Presidential Palace – this one has managed to bring the palatial underground. (Photo: PR)
這家被譽為全中國最美的書店原為前政府停車場和戰時防空洞，現為佔地4,000平方的書店。
5. El Péndulo , Mexico City
This branch of Mexcian bookstore Péndulo offers a cultivated way to avoid the heat of Mexico City. Customers can leaf through shelves spanning two storeys or sit at the cafe listening to live music. In 2013, the chain celebrated its 20th anniversary by ‘releasing’ 1,000 books stamped with the message “This is a free book. Read it and return it to another public place.” (Photo: Aquiles Carrattino/aqui_c)
店內藏有1,000本免費書籍供任意借閱，以作鼓勵閱讀之用，非常有心。
6. Livraria Lello , Porto
This Portuguese landmark opened in the former Chardron Library at the turn of the 19th Century. Its Art Nouveau space is dominated by a curving staircase with ornate wooden carvings to match its intricate wall panels and columns. Stained glass windows with plant motifs and a skylight showing the monogram of the store’s founder José Lello add to the churchlike appearance. (Photo: Michal Huniewicz/M1key.me)
原為舊圖書館，是葡萄牙其中一個著名地標，以19世紀的新藝術運動風格設計，當中紅樓梯既優雅又古典。
7. Shakespeare & Company , Paris
“I must go down where all the ladders start in the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.” Featuring the WB Yeats quote on its website,Shakespeare & Company is a place that does more than sell books. Named after a bookstore frequented by Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce during the 1920s, the shop on Paris’s Left Bank has become equally legendary. Opened in 1951 by the American George Whitman – and run by his daughter Sylvia since his death in 2011 – it became a gathering place for Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs. From the start, Whitman allowed travelling artists and writers to lodge at the shop, which is also a lending library; the spirits of past authors haunt its crowded walls. (Photo: John R Rogers)
店內有床舖，供有才華但窮困的藝術家或作家暫住。 Ezra Pound 、 Ernest Hemingway 與 James Joyce 也曾是住客，是到巴黎時必要拜訪的書店。
8. Corso Como , Milan
Hidden behind an unassuming facade, Corso Como was founded in 1991 by former editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue Carla Sozzani. She brought her fashion nous to the complex that combines book and design stores with a cafe, hotel and roof garden. The bookstore mixes art, architecture and fashion titles with designer furniture to create a flea market with its own high-end Milanese twist. (Photo: PR)
簡潔時尚的現代設計，由前 Italian Vogue 主編 Carla Sozzani 於1991年創辦，在內更有酒店、咖啡館和天台花園，是潮人必到之地。
“I must go down where all the ladders start in the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.” Featuring the WB Yeats quote on its website,Shakespeare & Company is a place that does more than sell books. Named after a bookstore frequented by Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce during the 1920s, the shop on Paris’s Left Bank has become equally legendary. Opened in 1951 by the American George Whitman – and run by his daughter Sylvia since his death in 2011 – it became a gathering place for Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs. From the start, Whitman allowed travelling artists and writers to lodge at the shop, which is also a lending library; the spirits of past authors haunt its crowded walls. (Photo: John R Rogers)
店內有床舖，供有才華但窮困的藝術家或作家暫住。 Ezra Pound 、 Ernest Hemingway 與 James Joyce 也曾是住客，是到巴黎時必要拜訪的書店。
8. Corso Como , Milan
Hidden behind an unassuming facade, Corso Como was founded in 1991 by former editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue Carla Sozzani. She brought her fashion nous to the complex that combines book and design stores with a cafe, hotel and roof garden. The bookstore mixes art, architecture and fashion titles with designer furniture to create a flea market with its own high-end Milanese twist. (Photo: PR)
簡潔時尚的現代設計，由前 Italian Vogue 主編 Carla Sozzani 於1991年創辦，在內更有酒店、咖啡館和天台花園，是潮人必到之地。