Everyone has their neighborhood bookstore or their local library they call home. Maybe both even. I know I do - in TWO different cities. World of Books if a bi-weekly feature that allows me - and any of YOU - to share the bookstores and libraries you love so much. If you want to be featured on World of Books too, make sure to go HERE and fill out the contact form!
This week on
WORLD OF BOOKS,
Judith is here to grace us with her greatness. And her knowledge of all things bookish in Amsterdam.
I am so excited to be a part of Gaby's World of Books feature, because a) I love Gaby, b) I love this feature, and c) I have recently discovered bookstores! No, don't look at me like I'm crazy. Of course I've been going to bookstores for as long as I can remember. But for the past few years I've had trouble finding the right bookstore for me, because I read in English + I live in the Netherlands. That is not a good combination. For the most part of my life I only read Dutch books, and book buying was not a problem. Only when I started getting interested in English books (now I don't read Dutch anymore at all), things became difficult for me. The bookstore in my hometown had the occasional trade paperback, sure, but the books I wanted? No. That was all online shopping for me.
Until this year!
Because when I started book blogging, I started looking for English bookstores. Not in my real hometown, but in Amsterdam, my second hometown and where I currently spend most of my time (hi uni!). And oh, the pretty places I discovered! If you live in the Netherlands and are searching for a great English bookstore, or if you're a tourist and want to visit an English bookstore in Amsterdam, I got your back. So grab a drink, sit back, and join me on a bookish trip around the capital city of the Netherlands:
Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
Let's start our tour at the Amsterdam Central Station. We take a little walk and find ourselves at the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (or the Amsterdam Public Library), a huge building that has recently become my second home. Whenever I'm between classes and have a lot of studying to do, this is the place to go. They have about six floors of books, music, movies and food! Yes, this is pretty close to heaven. The building is all white and glass and very spacious, and it has the best lounge chairs. I have yet to check out the book collection, but they have an entire floor of English books, so I think it'll be glorious. Oh, and the library shares a building with two of my favorite food places: a La Place at the top (my favorite for sandwiches, smoothies and salads), and a Vapiano next to it (Italian will forever be my favorite). I can spend my entire day in this building. It's so zennnn.
Waterstones
Then let's move on to the bookstores. At the corner of Kalverstraat and Spui we find Waterstone's. Waterstone's is a UK based bookstore that is incredibly pretty and incredibly expensive. I go here all the time, but rarely buy books because they are more expensive than I like my books to be. But Waterstone's is very good for drooling over pretty B&N leatherbound classics, exciting new releases, and YA books with a pretty UK cover. Cons? They mostly sell paperbacks, and while I think UK paperbacks are much prettier than US, I still prefer to get hardcovers whenever I can. But I did get my copy of Vampire Academy here, and that was unfindable even on the Internet! Go Waterstone's!
The American Book Center
Basically across the street from Waterstone's we find the American Book Center. The ABC is known for its incredibly book discounts and therefore, ruining my bank account. As the name may suggest, this store sells American books only. Prices are pretty insane as well (20 euros for a hardcover, what?), but thank goodness the ABC has the best discounts ever. Great deals for me were Ten by Gretchen McNeill (a hardcover for 9 euros) and Pretty Girl Thirteen (a paperback for 4,50). The fact that they have a student discount doesn't help AND that this bookstore is basically next to my university building doesn't help me when I'm on a book buying ban. (Also, do you see that staircase? It has books all the way up to the ceiling! So cool.)
Vondelpark
Satisfied with all your purchases? Then it's time to read (assuming it's one of those rare days in Holland that it's actually not raining). Amsterdam has many parks, but my favorite by far is the Vondelpark. This is basically the most popular park anyway. I just really love the atmosphere here, even though it can be very crowded at times. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the mood to relax and read a book!
And voilà, that's a bookish day in Amsterdam! Now, you should all visit so we can do these things together, okay? Okay.
Are you guys planning your trip to Amsterdam already? I'm all scheduled to go myself (Octover 18th-20th). I'll be sure to let you know how all of these sites hold up! Until then, let me know how jealous you are in the comments below! ;)
Yeay Judith. I have the same problem with English books, but after finding ABC I've been buying even more books too. The discount is so tempting :p
ReplyDeleteAmsterdam sounds like such an awesome city for bookish buys. The only interesting stores here in Canada are Indigo stores which are basically the B&N of Canada. This feature is so interesting and thanks for sharing, Judith! :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Judith! Your bookstores are so PRETTY! With props to your amazing photography skills as well :)
ReplyDeleteI WANT TO GO ALL THOSE PLACES IMMEDIATELY! Judith, you just made me fall in love with your city. And thanks for this fun feature Gaby - love seeing everyone's bookish world!
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ReplyDeleteI envy you guys who live in cities with beautiful bookish places! The lack of decent libraries and local/indie bookstores around my town is one thing that I'm always getting frustrated at. The only library I love is the one in my uni, and the photos of Openbare Bibliotheek above reminds me a lot of my uni's library.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, Judith! (And Gaby, too!) ;)
I and my partner visited the Anne Frank house recently. It was an extremely good & moving experience, as the hiding place is near enough as it was during the war and of the time!
ReplyDeleteIt was incredible to see what they had to do, how they had to live & the story of them, other than inside the book, its real life!
http://www.globogirls.com/place/53-Amsterdam
http://www.globogirls.com/