Munich's best Englisch bookshop
Need a break from the festive rush? Retreating to a quiet room with a good book could be just the tonic. Here’s where to get your hands on a good one in English... Established in 1985 in the heart of Munich’s university district, Words’Worth bookshop is situated in a picturesque courtyard at Schellingstrasse 21a. In spring 2003 the shop expanded and opened a second store dedicated to academic books, just down the road, at Schellingstrasse 3. Words’Worth Academic stocks books about linguistics, literary history and criticism, British and American history, study aids and material for university exams. The main store has around 10,000 English-language titles, including fiction and non-fiction—contemporary literature, children’s books, classics, biographies as well as books on history, politics, cookery, art, photography, music, film, philosophy, psychology and popular science. It also has a large selection of audio books on cassette and CD, feature films and popular television series on video and DVD, and a variety of gift items, not forgetting the organic soaps, teas, postcards, mugs and Winnie the Pooh goodies, which would not be out of place in an English country shop. At Christmas it is certainly a location worth knowing about, not only for the books, but also for the seasonal British goodies like Christmas pudding, brandy butter, greetings cards and calendars. The friendly and knowledgeable English-speaking staff is always willing to order books or offer recommendations. Indeed, when asked for their all-time favorite novel, there was a general consensus among the managers that it has to be Ulysses by James Joyce. Of the new titles in hardback they recommend The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler as a good holiday read, or The Plot against America by Philip Roth for the more serious minded. Among the new paperbacks The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers is praised highly. Words’Worth, www.wordsworth.de Munich’s leading bookstore chain, Hugendubel, opened a shop devoted to English books in September 2004. The store, located at Salvatorplatz 2, is in the same location as the chain’s original shop. Offering more than 15,000 different titles, as well as a selection of audio books and magazines, the outlet is now the largest of its kind in Munich. This is good news not only for the large English-speaking community in the city, but also for Germans who prefer to read the original versions of books, rather than waiting for the translation to be published. When asked for their recommendations, the staff at Hugendubel praised The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and Indelible by Karin Slaughter. They also rated Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney very highly. And, finally, Mister Seahorse, they claim, would make a great Christmas present for children. The book by Eric Carle, best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is a humorous story with beautiful collage illustrations. Hugendubel, www.hugendubel.de