To most people writing a book is quite obviously a creative venture–and I agree. However I do think many cranks in the book world (publishers, book stores, advertising, etc) lose that creativity and keep doing the same thing over and over again until it feels stale, over used, and trite.
Because of that I want to hold up stores/publishers that break that mold. Today my example is Anagram Bookshop. Sadly Anagram closed down in 2011, but before then it was a gorgeous little bookshop located in Prague–yes Prague of the Czech Republic. I never had a chance to visit this store, but it always received high reviews for the store location (it was in the cellar of an old house just off a church courtyard) and store layout.
I first heard about Anagram Bookshop, though, through it’s promotional ads.
Even their tagline, Words Create Worlds, just makes me grin. Most bookstores that I find these days pretty much follow the Barnes and Nobles layout. I adore Barnes and Nobles. I could stay in one for hours, but there’s something to be said about the more individualistic bookstores, like Anagram. Barnes and Nobles is a bookstore–a glorious heaven of a bookstore–but my favorite bookstores are the ones where you step into a different world when you enter their doors.
What about you, Champions? Have you ever found a transporting/creativity brimming bookstore?
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