Brussels is informally called the capital of Europe as here we have all the main European Institutions that make EU possible.
Walking along its streets you can hear people speaking any language you can think of: these are probably not tourists, but people that live and work in Brussels. Up till not long ago, these people would have to return to their home country if they wanted to buy a book in their own language. Fortunately, not anymore!
Not far from the European Parliament (10 minutes walk at most), and just off the “Matonge” neighborhood, Librebook has now opened its doors. They describe themselves as “a bookshop based on the Brussels state of mind (mixed, chaotic, curious, odd, open, irregular…)”. I agree 100%.
It’s not too big, which makes it cozy. All the furniture is second hand (mainly from banks, weird!) which is nice. Then you walk around and see books in all those “strange” languages, hear people talking those random languages and probably see them sipping a glass of good European wine, tea or a coffee.
They also do different events such as workshops, book readings, aperojazz poetry reading in whatever language you know. Super interesting! Check out their website and Facebook page for the latest news.
Happy reading!