English-language bookshops operate as home-away-from-home for expats, often with readings from visiting writers, and sometimes handy noticeboards for flat-shares, language lessons and work. The Australian Bookshop and Abbey's in particular operate as cultural ambassadors for Australia and Canada respectively, with a large range of the national literature available in French translation.Abbey Bookshop 29 rue de la Parcheminerie, 5e. A Canadian bookshop round the corner from Shakespeare & Co (see below), with lots of secondhand British and North American fiction; good social science sections; knowledgeable and helpful staff – and free coffee. M° St-Michel. Mon–Sat 10am–7pm. Brentano's 37 av de l'Opéra, 2e www.brentanos.fr. English and American books. Good section for kids, with storytelling on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. M° Opéra. Mon–Sat 10am–7pm. Galignani 224 rue de Rivoli, 1er. Claims to be the first English bookshop established on the Continent way back in 1802. Stocks a good range, including fine art and children's books. M° Concorde. Mon–Sat 10am–7pm. Red Wheelbarrow 13 rue Charles V, 4e. Newly opened, a Canadian-run bookshop with regular book readings. M° St-Paul. Mon–Sat 10am–7pm. San Francisco Bookshop 17 rue Monsieur le Prince, 6e. American-run secondhand bookshop with a selection of contemporary literature that would be impressive anywhere. Quite a collection of books on jazz, and sections for everything from gay and lesbian to Latin American studies. Well-organized and calm – not a social hangout. M° Odéon. Mon–Sat 11am–9pm, Sun 2–7.30pm. Shakespeare & Co 37 rue de la Bûcherie, 5e. A cosy, famous literary haunt, American-run, with the biggest selection of secondhand English books in town. Also poetry readings and the like. M° Maubert-Mutualité. Daily noon–midnight. Tea and Tattered Pages 24 rue Mayet, 6e. Secondhand bookshop with more than 15,000 titles in English, mostly tatty fiction. You can munch on cheesecake, bagels and the like in the small attached salon de thé. M° Duroc. Mon–Sat 11am–7pm, Sun noon–6pm. Village Voice 6 rue Princesse, 6e www.villagevoicebookshop.com. A welcoming recreation of a neighbourhood bookstore, with a good selection of contemporary fiction and non-fiction, and a decent list of British and American poetry and classics. M° Mabillon. Mon 2–8pm, Tues–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun 2–7pm. W. H. Smith 248 rue de Rivoli, 1er. Parisian outlet of the British chain. Wide range of new books, newspapers and magazines. M° Concorde. Daily 9.30am–7pm.
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