•Written by Edward Girardet• ••Monday•, 27 •June• 2011 00:39•
While Amazon.com and other internet providers are increasingly serving as a way to order books, both print and electronic, there is nothing like the satisfaction of seeing and touching a good book. Here is the Essential Edge's quick guide to book stores for adults and children in Switzerland that offer good selections of English-language publications, including online access. Some hold regular readings and other events. Many non-specialist shops, including several on the French side, offer English books but with limited selections. We will soon publish a list of bookshops in France.
GENEVA
Off the Shelf is one of Geneva's best known English bookstores. Located in the centre of the city near the Place du Cirque and Plainpalais, this small shop with stacks on two floors provides a wide array of books for both children and adults. Serving as the Lake Geneva region's literary hub, Off the Shelf often hosts book readings and signings by locally-based or visiting authors. It's staff, all English-speaking, also seem to know what they are talking about. The shop offers a fast and efficient order service for books, which are not in stock with some delivery times less than 24 hours. It also provides special programmes for teachers, students, companies and book clubs, plus its own online order service.
Off the Shelf
15 Blvd Georges Favon, Geneva.
Tel. 41-(0)22-731 8950.
www.offtheshelf.ch
Payot Librarie is a major book chain with about a dozen locations in French-speaking Switzerland, such as Lausanne and Montreux, and one in Zurich It also offers a good selection of English, German and other language books. One of its best English-language locations is its international store in Geneva. There is another outlet at Geneva airport with English books.
Payot Librairie
5 Rue Chantepoulet
Geneva
Tel. 41 (0)22 731 8950
www.payot.ch
LAUSANNE
Books Books Books is another good English-language book shop and the only one located in Lausanne. It stocks a broad selection of books for both adults and children.
Books Books Book - The English Bookstore
Rue de Mercerie 12
1003 Lausanne (Vaud)
Tel. 41 (0)21 311 2584
www.booksbooksbooks.ch
BERN
Stauffacher Books is one of our favorite bookshops in Switzerland. It is also the largest. Stauffacher offers an excellent selection of English titles. It's also a great place to go for coffee or lunch on its second-floor Café Littéraire with its outdoor terrace, so you can browse books in peace over a drink. Additional Stauffacher outlets exist in the Bern and Fribourg train stations, each with an English-language side.
Stauffacher Books
(Main shop)
Entrance Neuengasse 25 - 37
Entrance Ryffligässchen 8
Entrance Splendid (Von Werdt-Passage 8)
Telephone 41- (0)31 313 63 63
E-Mail:
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www.stauffacher.ch
NEUCHATEL
Used-Ink is a small but interesting outlet located in Neuchatel selling used English books with over 2,500 titles. It also has an online bookstore for sales in Switzerland. It offers mainly literature, fiction, children's books, mysteries, non-fiction, science fiction and cookbooks with new titles added weekly. However, it seems to be having problems with its internet link. We are putting it up in the hope that the shop is still operating.
www.used-ink.ch
ZURICH
Buchhandlung Staehli is one of the oldest shops dealing with English books in Switzerland, Staehli allows you to order online and delivers in a couple of days. They have a selection of English books and specialize in language textbooks, plus specialize in language training.
Headoffice and Mail-orders
Stäheli's Bookshops Ltd.
Spinnereistrasse 7
8001 Zürich Bookshop and Showroom
Stäheli Interlingua
Schifflände 26, 2nd floor
8001 Zurich
Tel. 41 (0)44 209 9111 and 209 9111
Fax 41 (0)44 209 9112 and 209 91 12
Email:
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www.staehelibooks.ch
Orrell Fussli, which regards itself as the best bookshop with English books in Swizterland, have a number of shops located in Zurich, Wintherthur, Lucern, Bern and elsewhere, but the Bahnhof Zurich shop is dedicated to English books. The Bellevue branch, however, won the Branch of the Year award in 2010, with its Starbucks café and wide variety of books on different floors. You can also get DVD's, newspapers and magazines. Check online for their different shops and addresses.
Although many local bookshops throughout Switzerland offer small English sections, you can save time and widen the selection by ordering online. Expatica writer, Anna Dilemna recommends some great options to help keep your literary needs satisfied:
Orrell Fussli The Bookshop
Bahnhofstrasse 70, 8001 Zurich
Tel: 044 211 04 44
Email:
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www.books.ch
Kunstgriff is a great place for contemporary art. is a winning choice-its cool factor the cherry on top of an impressive collection. Located inside the huge Löwenbräu-Areal industrial complex, there's no sign for the bookstore visible from the street. Once you're in, look for the giant sliding black door-and don't mind the security guards, they're just standing watch to protect the art in surrounding galleries. English books intermingled with German. Closed Mondays.
Kunstgriff
Limmatstrasse 270
Zurich
Tel. 41 (0)44 272 9066
BASEL
Bergli Books is both a bookshop and a publisher in the old town of Basel. Apart from offering a wide variety of books, also available online, Bergli Books publishes books and information, mostly in English, that focus on the cultural diversity, history and cultural attitudes, plus the values of the Swiss and international people living in Switzerland. Bergli also hosts events such as readings by authors.
Bergli Books AG
Falknerstrasse 13
4001 BaselTel. 41 (0)61 373 2777
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Bilder & Tanner, a music and arts bookshop, is another option for English and other international books in Basel.
Bilder & Tanner Buchhandlung
Aeschenvorstadt 2,
Basel | 061 206 99 99 |
Email:
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www.biderundtanner.ch |
NEAR BASEL AND ACROSS THE BORDER
The English Book Service is an online provider of books in English located in Waldshut-Tiengen, Southern Germany close to the Swiss border. It has a wide variety of books with free delivery in Germany, but can ship anywhere in Switzerland for a low price. They will also advise you by phone or email.
GTI Grenville Trading International GmbH
represented by Managing Director Richard Small
Schulstrasse 6
79761 Waldshut-Tiengen
Germany
Tel: 49 (0)7741 83040
Fax: 49 (0)7741 830438
E-Mail:
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www.english-book-service.com
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