Zhongshuge Bookstore, Hangzhou, China
A trip to the Zhongshuge Bookstore in Hangzhou, China, will make you feel as if you have stepped into the future, or perhaps onto some sort of spacecraft. Books are arranged around columns and behind transparent curtains, and mirrored ceilings and walls make you feel as if the books are endless, and that time has no meaning.
Bosudong Book Alley, Busan, South Korea
Forget exploring just one bookstore — this street in Busan is home to dozens. These stores are so overcrowded with reading material that their inventory spills out in piles into the street. It’s a bit of a hunt to find the right book, but if you love being surrounded by bound volumes, you’ll love exploring this particular alley.
Honesty Bookshop, Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Last on our list is the Honesty Bookshop in Hay-on-Wye Wales. Hay-on-Wye itself is full of bookstores — dozens of them line every street, making it a real haven for book lovers. One of the best bookstores here, though, is the Honesty Bookshop. According to Daily Kos, this charming outdoor bookstore consists of a wall of books, from which you can choose any book you want on the honor system. Once you have chosen your book, you are asked to pay for it (hardbacks are just one pound, while paperbacks are half that) by depositing your money in a box in the wall. There is no one there to check whether you did it or not, as the Honesty Bookstore trusts that you will be (you guessed it) honest.