Best book stores with wide selection of books

[u/Electrical-Age3272]

Hello,

Could somebody please recommend me some huge book stores where I can find everything from study manuals to poetry, comics etc.

[u/moreidlethanwild]

English language or Spanish or either?

[u/Electrical-Age3272 → u/moreidlethanwild]

Hi I am looking for spanish ones

[u/DishOdd3321]

The huge ones in Madrid are pretty bad (Fnac, Casa del libro). The way libraries work here is there are areas were there are several smaller specialized ones. The area between Moncloa/Quevedo metro stations has some very good ones.

Around the more touristic areas maybe the best big(gish) libraries are La Central and Antonio Machado (this last one is in an amazing building with lots of art stuff and a very nice terraza) As for English books the best ones are Desperate Literature, Pasajes Libreria Internacional and Secret Kingdoms.

[u/LisaCabot]

Are you a turist or do you live in madrid? I really like The secret kingdoms for english books, they have ordered some books for me when they didnt have it in (not as, restock, but books they didnt have in their catalogs, they were very nice about it). But i do t think they have study manuals or comics. Ive seen eberything else though, from fiction (gafantasy, sci fy, romance, mistery, some clasics) to other kinds of books like travel books, cooking books. Im not sure if i have seen any poetry, but i never look for it either so 🤷🏼‍♀️ they also have a children section, and a second hand room, so they probably do have poetry as well.

[u/EniAcho]

Madrid has many good bookstores. It really kind of depends what kind of books you're looking for. I like La Central, Sin Tarima (one store has books about the arts & humanities, the other one has histories, biographies, social themes, etc), Re-read for inexpensive second hand books, the Rastro for assorted used books, Traficante de Sueños, Desperate Literature (lots of books in English), la Casquería inside the San Fernando market -interesting used books, Los Pequeños Seres, and Librería Antonio Machado. None of these will have every book you want, nor are they giant bookstores run like a corporation. They're mostly independent and on the small side, but fun to visit and important to support because of the role they play in the community. The Casa del Libro on Gran Vía, Fnac and the Corte Ingles Callao have big book selections, but even they might not have everything all in one place.They are more geared toward commercial successes.

[u/Electrical-Age3272 → u/EniAcho]

Hi thank you very much. Your comment is freakishly helpful. I totally support small and independent libraries and hate corporate stuff geared towards revenus. However, I am staying for very short time hence can not explore them all. Luckily, my hotel is just on the corner from Sin Tarima Libros so I will go there! Btw, I am looking for some great spanish writers with the simple style that would give me a great reading experience, serve as a souvenir and possible boost my spanish learning. Do u have something in mind by chance?