In 2013, when I finally moved to Berlin’s Mitte from Macau, for months “ocelot, not just another bookstore” had become my afternoon spot every Saturday, after its neighbouring municipal library was closed. A very confortable and welcoming bookstore, ocelot is one of my favorite friend meeting places, alongside Handebstand: the first one is a bookstore, the latter is a secondhand one, both on the same street. Book dealers Maria-Christina Piwowarski, Ludwig Lohmann or Eva Voigt organize remarkable literary events regularly and also serve tasty coffees! Eva is for example always mindful and even lent me an iPhone charger once, a Japanese/Taiwanese attitude!

The staff is well informed and available for recommendations for a good read. The majority of publications are in German, but a good English section is present, both for adults and children. For example, the English translation of Half a Lifelong Romance by prominent modern Chinese woman writer Eileen Chang – what a pleasant surprise! The cozy reading seats for parents and children, along with the children book section, occupy one third of Mitte’s bookstore! Also a surprise is that children’s books for Arabic refugees or even written in Canada’s indigenous language Inuktitut can also be occasionally found! Ocelot’s huge display windows face Volkspark am Weinberg. Both are must-visits for those who are around.