Berlin’s Bookstores

Soda is the place where people from the art industry find their inspiration among the many books and magazines for designers, culinary artists, photographers, illustrators, editorial enthusiasts, architects or people generally interested in visuals and the printed matter. The most special element of this store is its wide and light location. However, Soda doesn’t have space for every existent magazine – they focus on the visual content, and control every aspect from the graphic design to the pictures and photography of the publications they sell, reassuring all their stuff is very high-quality. Sebastian Steinacker, owner of the shop, studied in London. When he went back to Munich in 2004, he realised that there were no specialised magazines shops around, and so the necessity of establishing Soda was born. The idea was successfully embodied in that city, and so in 2012 Sebastian made the decision to open another space in Berlin.

Ocelot, is really not just another bookstore – it is a place near the beautiful Volkspark am Weinbergsweg where you can have coffee and cake and enjoy reading books. The store offers a great variety of both German and English literature. The reason why this shop really stands out is its great selection of novels, and the large space where you’ll find your own territory for reading. Also, Ocelot holds about four events per month with authors to introduce the new literature to people.

Do You Read Me?! offers the largest amount of magazines and readings from around the world you can imagine, from fashion, photography and art, to architecture, interior design and cultural matters, society and food. For example, if you are looking for a magazine that describes Chinese street food markets, you will definitely find a proper one devoted to this particular subject.
The owners, Jessica Reitz and Mark Kiessling, opened the shop in 2008 to share with Berliners the many magazines that exist around the world, but they also wanted to let the readers know more about the publications themselves, so they sometimes hold seminars, lectures or exhibitions where it is possible to expand your knowledge of the magazine industry.

After 13 years in Prague and 3 in the neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg, Shakespeare and Sons found its current location in Friedrichshain, and now you’ll find here a real great amount of diverse literature in English, German and French. But the other great reason to visit it has to be found in the business located in the same space, Fine Bagels, a bakery and café that specialises in bagels and other Jewish-American baking. The design of the store was done between the owners, Roman Kratochvila and Radim Sevcik, and a friend, carpenter, artist, and designer Peter Ellis, who came over from Boston to work in the store.

Topics is a conceptual bookshop located in the heart of Berlin’s Neukölln district. It stands out because of its unique way or ordering the books: they’re divided into 80 topics, ranging from obsessions to censorship, post-modern westerns, time machine… Also, books can migrate from one topic to another when the costumers choose a better fit. Their latest incorporation is an Occult Room, with books and other occultist items.