Three Places (Bookstores) I Want to Go

               You know how some people have a list of places they want to go before they die? Well, not many people know this about me, but I have a list of bookstores I want to go to before I die.

Shakespeare & Company: Paris, France

               

               Okay, maybe this first one is a little obvious. And maybe it's a little bit because I just want to go to Paris someday. And maybe it's because it's right across from Notre Dame. But I also just want to go there to read!

               Shakespeare & Co. is a famous bookstore based in Paris. It's beautiful, filled (literally) to the brim with books. It's staffed by young, hopeful writers, known as "tumbleweeds," and...oh, just look at it!

    

    

               All those books, stacked up to the ceiling, with wooden rafters and velvety chairs and quaint, cramped hallways. It's so dreamy.

Strand Bookstore: East Village, Manhattan, NY

               

               The Strand Bookstore is less of a quaint, magical bookstore, and more of a wild, chaotic, get-lost-in-the-stacks store (or so I've read.) It isn't THE biggest used bookstore in the U.S, but it holds a close second with a slogan of, "18 Miles of Books." The number one spot actually goes to Powell Books, in Seattle, WA, but...don't want to sound shallow here, but...EAST COAST BEATS WEST, SUCKAS!

               That is not a word. I am sorry.

               

    

    

               I love that you can't actually see into the windows of the building for all the books. If I were a person to use emoticons, I would use the heart one now.

               Oh, what the hell. <3

El Ateneo: Buenos Aires, Argentina

               Are you ready to see the most beautiful bookstore you have or ever will have seen?

               I hope so.

    

               El Ateneo Grand Splendid used to be a theater, if that isn't amazingly and beautifully obvious. All of the balconies and seating areas are now filled with, you guessed it, books. The stage area is a little cafe. The ceiling still has its original fresco and chandelier.

               Can you say siiiiiiiigggggghhhhh?

               The only problem is that, since it is an Argentinian bookshop, almost all of the books are in Spanish. I'll have to bring my own to read if I can't speak Spanish by then. Speaking of, this store may or may not be the only reason I plan on taking Spanish for the next four years of high school.

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

               This is the first book I've ever read by Neil Gaiman, and I now understand why he is so universally known and beloved (in the nerd universe, that is.) Would you like to know why?

               It's because his writing is magical, and witty, and addictive, and there was, briefly, in this book, a zombie unicorn and sky pirates. Played straight. And it works.

                I loved, loved, loved this book. I loved how it seems almost possible that these magical things are real, side by side with our world, on the other side of a wall in a town called Wall. I loved how Gaiman doesn't take himself too seriously, and it shows in the book. I loved how even two-dimensional characters weren't two dimensional characters, and I loved how twists came that were so simple and lovely that you had to say, Lordy, how didn't I see that coming? 

               I loved how Tristran Thorn is able to take things as they are. 

               This candle will get me to where I need to go, through inexplicable teleportation. Okay.  

               I'm looking for a fallen star. The star is a teenage girl. Sure, why not?

               The tree is talking to me. Okay, then.

               THERE'S A UNICORN FOR US TO RIDE. Sure. 

               I loved this book, and seeing as I seem to be the only one of my friends who hasn't read it, I don't feel it needs too much of a standard review from me following my previous rant about the amazing-ness that is this story. Please, go and read the book, because my ranting and writing can't do it justice. 

...Did I mention that I loved this book?