introducing belgrade’s independent bookshops  

This article was developed within the program Venture an Idea funded by the USAID.

In the large, modern bookstore chains, books are sold together with glittering accessories fit for New Year’s Eve celebration, with cafés where you can leaf through your newly purchased books. These bookstores sell everything, novels, cookbooks, popular psychology, history, art and economy books. They also sell thermos flasks, pencils topped with feathers and vanity cases. Bookstore chains are certainly convenient. We know what to expect there and this makes it somewhat easier for us to find there what we are looking for. However, Belgrade’s independent bookshops are an entirely different story! They have quite a different atmosphere. Here is where you can find the greatest variety of titles, including book rarities, as well as books that simply look stunning, various comics and graphic novels, and a thousand little wonders that you didn’t even know existed. On top of that, the people working in such stores are generally super helpful, providing that they are frequently the owners of these small and hidden oases for book lovers. And just like that, purchasing a book in one of these stores can turn into an exciting and inspiring experience, as the sellers and owners are real enthusiasts and connoisseurs of books. 

Beopolis

Beopolis is a bookshop with cult status among Belgrade citizens. It is located in the hall of the Youth Home of Belgrade, and there you can find a huge selection of relevant volumes, especially from the fields of humanities, art theory and comics studies.  

Booka bookstore

Bookshop/café in a couple of different locations. Here you can find the latest bestselling volumes. Booka is also a publisher which pays utmost attention to their books’ design, so their publications are simultaneously real stunners.  

Plavi krug

The bookshop is located approximately in the middle of Takovska Street. This is quite a special bookshop, brimming with various volumes from all conceivable fields. This bookstore is highly recommended, especially if you have been looking for a book everywhere, yet to no avail.  

Zepter Book World

This bookshop is located in the very heart of the city, in Knez Mihajlova Street, nested among huge chain bookstores. The Zepter is a small bookshop where you can find different titles from the fields of philosophy, culture and film studies. Almost always, their shop window displays some excellent biographies. 

Kreativni centar 

This bookshop is specialized in children and youth. They are also publishers, and in their bookshops, which can be found in a couple of different locations across the city, you can find a huge selection of beautifully illustrated books for children. 

These small, and indeed rare independent bookshops in Belgrade are special places with a particular type of atmosphere. 

This article was made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the responsibility of Nova Iskra and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.