Santiago bookstore

[johnBCCanada]

Hi

I don't know how many will be interested in this but here goes.

I am one of those people who always has a book with them. After finishing my books on the Camino I was unable to resupply at the Albergues in Galicia and arrived at Santiago looking for reading material. (dedicated readers will always find time to read). There were a couple of stores in the old part of the city that had small selections of popular fiction but an unsatisfactory selection in general.

However a couple of blocks out of the old part of the city there was a marvelous bookstore on a corner and with two, maybe three, stories of book. This bookstore had by far the best selction of books in English. If you must read it is worth searching out. I can't tell you how to find it but I will remember how to get back there when I am in Santiago again.

John

 

[lynnejohn]

I know the one you mean - it's not too far into the new city and is just wonderful - wish I could remember the name, but I do remember how to get there! We felt in the lap of luxury with 3 days in Santiago, good food and wine, and all the books we could carry!

lynne

 

[lynnejohn]

Does anyone know the name of this bookstore? Ivar?

lynne

 

[ivar]

I think you are talking about "Follas Novas" in new town located here, by the hill down to Plaza Roxa (that has the "water fall").

By the way, next week I will bring in to the Travel Center some of my read English books (pocket boos), for those who are looking for something to read in English. I was thinking of making it "you leave one book and take one"..... a kind of book exchange... that said, my books are mostly crime and not so "deep" books, but....

Frost in the grass this morning... getting colder..

Ivar

 

[lynnejohn]

That's it! Thanks Ivar! I thoroughly recommend this bookstore.

I l also ove the idea of "take one, leave one", and I'm sure many of us would appreciate exchanging books at your place. I left several books in albergues along caminos, but only found one (English language). There were usually several in German, French and Spanish.

I've read on another thread that many other members consider books a necessity; also the kindle option. Kindle sounds like a great option, but then again it's another item that needs to be charged along with camera, cell phone, etc...

lynne

 

[spacehopper]

Hello,

Thanks for this post as it is something I have been worrying about. I am moving to Santiago at the end of January and amidst all the organisation that goes with it the most pressing anxiety for me is getting English language books to read when I am there.

I read 2 books a week and have thought about stockpiling them to take with me but that hasn't worked out well as I keep reading the ones I have bought in charity shops. Great to know there is a bookshop that sells them in Santiago, thanks for the map, but sorry Ivar, I don't like crime novels.

Hasta Luego

Spacehopper

 

[johnBCCanada]

Hi

Just a note to say that I also remember a used bookstore in the old section of Santiago. Of course I couldn't say exactly where it is but it did have a selection of English language used books and who knows what one might find there.

John

ps I am one of those people who don't pass used book stores without checking them out

 

[Priscillian]

I just noticed this and thought I would comment.
Follas Novas (from a poem by Rosalia Castro) is a pilgrim's heaven! There is an entire corner of the basement devoted to Pilgrim Studies - most in Spanish but not by any means all. Last summer I went in to meet the manager and to promote Peregrinos de la Herejia (in the window bless them!). I was introduced to a man I have called on the blog "A Camino god".
His name is Rafael Silva Costoyas. He was the Director del Centro de Estudios Jacobeos amongst other things. Meeting him is like walking into a painting by Goya. If you go into the bookshop you may find him on the main floor towards the back. You'll know him by his long silver hair and his cravat thrown over his shoulders. Mention the Portico de Gloria and his eyes will light up. He has written the definitive work on the subject: 241 pages of it! You will need some Spanish to talk to him, but even if you don't speak much, just listening to his gentle whisper will suffice.
Another bookshop I highly recommend is Encontros on Rua do Vilar. They took Pilgrimage to Heresy when it was first published in English and still have an exclusive on it. Libreria San Pablo on the same street has an English book section too.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

... and halfway along the camino at the Peaceable we have a boxful of raggedy paperbacks that pilgrims use for a "leave one, take one" pile. Not sure what all is in there, but some of them are pretty hair-raisingly bad!

We don´t have many Goya portraits on staff here. Just a couple of Cubist Picassos.

Reb