Small Selection

Much like coffee shops in Seattle, Nuremberg is able to pull off multiple bookstores that are all very close together-- and all of them are doing just fine. Within about 200 yards there are 4 bookstores on one of Nuremberg's main shopping streets, the Karolinenstrasse, each with its own vibe and specialty. The English-speaking expat community here is fairly small but vocal, so each of these stores has a section of varying size to cater to the Englisch (as it's written in German), mostly bestsellers and the like, but a couple skew towards the classics as well.

Jakob Buchhandlung, the true bookworm's hangout in the area reminds me of a very organized Shakespeare & Co., the notorious Paris bookstore. As much as I like going there (the walls are covered with fascinating old photos and maps of the area), Jakob's English section seems like an afterthought, located as it is off to the side of a busy corridor, and its shelf space covers perhaps 10 feet x 10 feet in size. While it does have an intriguing selection, it is also hopelessly tiny. Which brings us to this photo (click on photo for a larger view): This is a sliver of the store's "S" authors section. I defy anybody to find another bookstore in the world that has Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's children's classic The Little Prince next to Salinger's Catcher in the Rye , next to Charles Schultz' Snoopy 2 in 1 Collection.