Claudia from Budapest
Massolit Books & Café Budapest
Every reader's dream
Nestled in “Big Walnut Street”, in the area of Budapest where streets are named after plants, Massolit is a wonderful flower with a secret garden. A coffee shop in a bookstore and vice versa. I grew up in my mother's bookshop, so here, surrounded by books, I can feel happy and inspired.
In this place I wrote the draft of my first novel, several short stories, hundreds of articles and a few poems. If I had to leave Budapest tomorrow, Massolit would be the place I would miss the most, also because of its cooperative nature. I like to write on a specific table: it turned out to be a donation of a good friend of mine, a brilliant writer, that he left when we went back to his own country.
I am an expat and, even if I speak Hungarian, I cannot read it at a decent pace, therefore it's a big attraction to me that here all the titles are in English, both used and new. I call Massolit "my second office", but I come also just for the easiest, yet most precious thing: some interesting company.
Starting from the owner, Judit, to reach its regulars, Massolit feels like family (a good one). It’s an island of peace for those who write, work or study on their laptop – people mention Massolit in the special thanks of their thesis or novels -, but also the ideal spot to meet part of the vibrant creative community that Budapest nurtures.
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