As someone who loves travelling and exploring almost as much as she loves books, I wanted to start incorporating more travel stuff into my blog. This started with my Amberica posts, and will continue when I write about my adventures in Germany, but I really wanted to start a feature that combined both books and travel, rather than focussing on travel alone. And so, World of Bookshops was born. It’s not the most creative name for a feature, but I had a lot of trouble coming up with something that fit, so this will have to do!
In my World of Bookshops posts, I’ll be featuring one bookshop from somewhere in the world. One that I have visited, and can talk a bit about. My first pick is the Bücher Pustet, which I went to when I stayed with my family in Landshut, Germany. It’s a lovely store situated almost opposite St. Martin’s Church along the highstreet. When I went there, there were people bustling about outside at the market, and the inside of the shop was busier than I thought it would be.
Both of the bookshops in Landshut have a small international section, and Bücher Pustet’s was the largest of those two. Since I can’t read German, I obviously darted here first to see what was on offer. Adult books dominated the selection, but there were a few popular Young Adult titles too. See if you can spot any in this photo! There weren’t any Middle Grade or books for younger readers, which was a little disappointing. It’s understandable though, since in (most of?) the schools in Landshut, children don’t start to study English properly until they’re well into secondary school.
I didn’t buy anything from this section because I really don’t need any more books right now, and since these books were imported, they were a little pricey.
I then wandered up the stairs to the second storey, which was actually more of a half-storey but I don’t know the word for that, and located the Young Adult section, where I spent a good thirty minutes just stroking the books. Let me tell you, the German book covers for a lot of my favourite books and series are BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, look up the Heroes of Olympus or Ruby Red covers in German and you will see. I’m jealous of you Germans!
The range of books here was quite impressive, and I love how many YA books are being translated into German right now! You can probably spot a few well known ones in this photo, such as The Selection, The Book Thief, and Legend. There’s also the lesser known Night School series among others. And yes, that is Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart to the right of the picture!
I came out of the shop with only one book – Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen, or Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I have decided to start a project where I collect the first Harry Potter book in all different languages, because I love languages and I adore Harry Potter. I don’t know, I thought it would be fun, and I already have the book in Dutch and Spanish!
All in all, Bücher Pustet is a lovely bookshop with a good range of international titles for those tourists who don’t read German, or for the locals who wish to read in English. I was very impressed with the Young Adult section, especially since it took up half of the second floor (the other half was dedicated to books for younger readers), and there are places for you to sit, read, and relax in peace. If you ever get a chance to go there, be sure to check out their accessories section too. I found a cute little bookmark shaped like Big Ben (or the Elizabeth Tower if you’re going to be picky)!
And that’s it for my first World of Bookshops post! I hope you like the new feature, because I certainly do and I’ll be continuing to post about the bookshops that I visit on my travels.
McCallum J. Morgan says
Cool! I love this feature! It’s making me terribly jealous. I look forward to more!
Morgan says
I love this feature idea! So much fun, I bet all the German covers were fab. Can’t wait for more World of Bookshops posts! I actually collect foreign HP books as well and have Goblet of Fire in German 🙂 I have the first three books in Hebrew, Chamber of Secrets in Dutch, and Sorcerer’s Stone in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French, Latin, and Italian. I have SS, PoA, and GoF in British versions too! It’s such a fun collection to have.