The 10 Most Unconventional Bookstores In The World

Yes, The Book Barge is a floating bookstore that roams the canals of England and now France. You have to make an appointment to actually buy books from The Book Barge, but they will create a "little library" of books tailored to your interests. Bookseller Sarah Henshaw has even written a book about her experience turning an old canal barge into a bookstore.

If romantically cramped bookstores are your style, then you won't want to miss La Caverne aux Livres (The Cavern of Books). La Caverne is built into an old postal train train in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. From the outside it looks like any other decommissioned train, but inside it's crammed with thousands of books of every kind.

Two words: speakeasy bookstore. Brazenhead Books is an odd little (secret) bookshop that has moved from actual store to apartment to second apartment over the years. Some nights it's "more of a book club" than an actual store, and you have to do some research to find it, but then you wouldn't exactly want a speakeasy bookstore to be easy to find.

Located in Rio de Janeiro, Saraiva Bookstore features a huge book rainbow wrapping around the top level, and it will definitely make you want to color-code your bedroom bookshelf. The rainbow theme runs through the whole store, with plenty of cozy, colorful reading nooks.

Not only is this bookstore open 24 hours a day, but backpackers can also stay there for free as long as you email to book your visit in advance. Naturally, the bookstore includes a bar, a kitchen, and plenty of couches and benches for comfy reading.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is easily one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. It's definitely the most beautiful bookstore to ever take up residence in an old theater. The theater itself is over 100 years old, and it makes for one majestic bookshop.

The Last Bookstore in L.A. is a beautiful, twisting maze of new and used books. The store is famous for its huge stock, its wild design, and its very inventive shelving.

Librairie Avant-Garde is quite literally an underground bookstore: it's built in a former underground parking lot (that was also once a bomb shelter). The store doubles as a library, with a coffee shop and plenty of room for reading, and a check-out counter built out of old books.

Libreria Alta Acqua ("Library of High Water") is known for its unusual methods of storing books. If you want to shop in this bookstore, you'll have to dig your book out of a boat or a bathtub. Books are used to create the store's furniture and staircase, too, and there's a full sized gondola inside that floats every time the store floods.

Selexyz Dominicanen started out as a church 700 years ago. It was closed down by Napoleon Bonaparte, and later reopened as a warehouse, and then as bicycle storage. Finally, it was redesigned as an incredibly beautiful bookstore, perfect for even the most grandiose readers.