Taipei is home to many small, independent bookstores, hidden away down its many inviting lanes and alleys. Like some of their larger-scale counterparts, these bookstores focus on specific subjects, and though their display space may be limited, their approach is original. In addition to VVG Something (好樣本事), chosen this year by the American culture and entertainment website Flavorwire.com as one of the world's twenty most beautiful bookstores, there are many other small bookstores out there awaiting discovery, each with its own unique personality.
Setting Course for Adventure – VVG Something
Walk along the lanes and alleys off Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 (忠孝東路4段) and VVG Something will inevitably catch your eye. This petite 43-square-meter bookstore was opened in 2009 by local designer Grace Wang (汪麗琴), who has filled it with material expressions of her likes and attitudes to life.
Step inside and you are greeted with a long table in the center of the room piled high with books on photography, design, cooking, and other topics. All were discovered by Grace while traveling abroad. Their special binding, font, or the paper they're printed on make them too appealing to put down. Adding to the aesthetics is a collection of over ten French leather sofas, industrial-iron chairs, and Windsor chairs, complemented by a suite of antiques that includes an old printing machine, microscope, tin toys, and an iron shoe mold, each a memento from one of Grace's globe-trekking adventures.
In the beginning, when she was contemplating what type of product to display, Grace thought about the full range of books carried by nearby Eslite Bookstore (誠品書店). After racking her brain, she decided some reverse thinking was best: she would not prepare in advance all the possible titles that readers might be looking for, but would instead share the books and articles she herself liked. She wanted everyone to come and browse without any pressure, encountering pleasant surprises while discovering the stories behind her products.
As Flavorwire.com put it:“Almost utilitarian but filled with simple old-world grace, this store is a little like what we might imagine our ideal ship's main cabin to look like.”What course for adventure will you find yourself heading out on when you visit? Anticipation is part of the ultimate reward.
The Beauty of the Times in an Antiquarian Bookstore – JXJ Books
The new JXJ Books (舊香居) outlet facing National Taiwan University (臺灣大學) opened in April this year. This business is a rarity in Taiwan, specializing in rare books and collectibles, notably antique books, the letters of famous figures, vintage photographs, and antique maps. Smiling, owner Wu Zijie (吳梓傑) says the challenges are great, for not only is the market small but it's also necessary to accumulate a large collection in order for the long-term operation of this kind of business to be viable. Yet he and his elder sister, who inherited this family-run enterprise from the previous generation of their family, aim to help young book-lovers discover the beauty of earlier times in old publications.
The head of the first generation, Wu Huikang (吳輝康), started selling antique books along with paintings and calligraphy over 30 years ago. He started with a roadside stand selling second-hand books, and later established a bookshop/art center venue, moving many times. In 2003 what would become the flagship store of JXJ Books was opened on Longquan Street (龍泉街) near Taiwan Normal University (臺灣師範大學), with outlets following on Xinglong Road (興隆路) and near National Taiwan University.
In the National Taiwan University Store the classic furniture nicely complements a rich range of rare books that spans 300 years from the Ming and Qing dynasties down to the 1960s. You'll feel as though you've delved into a magical shop of treasures, encountering such gems as an edition of the Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) from the early Republican period, dissenter magazines advocating democracy from the Taiwan martial-law era, and old maps from the Japanese colonial period into the early post-retrocession period of Kuomintang rule. This is prime treasure-hunting territory for those intrigued by the development of Taiwanese society and Chinese publishing.
