Coming from Toronto, where the choices in bookstores are limited mainly to Indigo and a few smaller places, I am amazed at what I found here in Buenos Aires. It’s a city that honours books and writers, and that shows in the number of bookstores all over the city. I snapped all these photos on the same couple of streets, and I’m sure I didn’t get them all. They all seem to have people browsing in them all the time.

Most of them have cafes inside, where people happily drink coffee while looking books over to decide whether to buy them or not. Try that in Indigo!

This one is my all-time favourite bookstore anywhere. It’s called El Ateneo Grand Splendid. It used to be a 100-yearold opera house (presumably called the Grand Splendid), but it wasn’t being used any more. In Toronto it would have surrendered long ago to the wrecker’s ball and been replaced by a condo building. But here, they made it into what they justifiably describe as the world’s most beautiful bookstore.

The photo is taken from the stage, which remains complete with curtains and serves as the cafe. There you can have anything from a cup of coffee to a full course lunch complete with wine — and all with a pile of as yet unpurchased books by your side!

I didn’t feel like sketching today, so I cheated. This is a sketch I did on my last visit. Ever wanted to find a quiet spot to read and have nobody bother you? Check out the buy in the bottom box!