Wuguan Books
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A bookstore that's mostly under cover of darkness might sound strange and impractical, but hear us out. Wuguan Books in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, boasts more than 400 visually arresting titles, each book individually lit like a beacon, beckoning readers to peruse its pages. Small tables throughout the space have little lamps where you can read a chapter or two before you buy, and carpeted flooring and bans on flashes help create a serene environment to settle in undisturbed. Designed by Chu Chih-Kang, the award-winning architect behind Chengdu, China's Fangsuo Bookstore, you must be 18 and up to enter.
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Addyman Books
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ADDRESS
39 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford HR3 5AA, UK
PHONE +44 1497 821136
Boasting more than 20 bookshops, Hay-on-Wye should undoubtedly be on any literary lover’s travel radar—and while it’s impossible to say which of the bookstores is “the best” in town, Addyman Books is arguably one of the more beautiful. Open since 1987, Addyman Books stands out for its bright blue-painted archways, each featuring an array of books, the crème de la crème of which is a top-to-bottom display of Penguin classics. Check out Addyman’s adjacent outdoor “Book Passage”—where you’ll find good reads for a pound—along with its two other locations: Murder and Mayhem, which specializes in mysteries and detective novels, and The Addyman Annexe.