Three delights for print-lovers: A 24hr bookstore and two must-reads
Step inside Taipei’s 24-hour Eslite bookstore, explore Joann Sfar’s illustrated Paris and discover why KLM’s Holland Herald remains a print icon.
1.
The bookshop that never shuts
Eslite Spectrum Songyan
Taipei
Taiwan is built around convenience. Corner shops are open 24/7 and markets operate into the early hours. Within this nonstop retail landscape sits Eslite Spectrum Songyan, a bookshop that never closes its doors. Run by Eslite, one of the largest Taiwanese companies in the sector, it functions less as a shop than as a civic space. Eslite first opened a round‑the‑clock spot in 1999. Last autumn, it relocated the concept to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei, moving it into a former industrial site repurposed for cultural use. The shift allowed the shop to expand: it now holds about 250,000 books and features tiered teak seating and a 40‑metre‑long reading corridor made for lingering. The renovations have paid off. Foot traffic has risen by 30 per cent, while overall sales are up 70 per cent.
Late at night, teenagers sit cross-legged on the floor reading manga; in the morning, shift workers leaf through newspapers and current‑affairs titles. With about 50 locations worldwide, Eslite stands apart not for its scale but for treating reading as part of public life – at all hours.
eslitecorp.com
2.
The cartoon compendium
‘Paris’ by Joann Sfar
France
Bandes dessinées often transport the reader to far-flung lands of fantasy and adventure but comics can be moving when depicting more quotidian subjects. After a decade of strolling through the French capital with a box of watercolours for weekly Paris Match, French cartoonist Joann Sfar has gathered his observations in a new book, Paris.
Organised into chapters with titles such as “Little Parisians” and “Existentialism”, each page captures a scene from the modern city: lovers meeting via dating apps, students discussing AI and children falling asleep on the back of their parents’ bicycles. With gentle humour, Sfar delights in the absurdity of everyday life.
denoel.fr
3.
The high-flying magazine
‘Holland Herald’
Netherlands
At a time when many airlines are consigning their inflight publications to the digital realm to reduce costs, KLM’s Holland Herald stands apart. As the oldest inflight magazine in the skies, it’s especially nice to see it continuing to thrive. Founded in 1966, the Herald is as integral to the KLM experience as the miniature Delft Blue porcelain houses given away in business class.
Between its covers, you will find a pleasing mix of Netherlands‑related features, as well as those that look further afield, focusing on KLM destinations. With about 170 dots on its route map, depending on the season, that means plenty of variety – and it’s not only destination content. One recent issue includes everything from a photo essay about Venice to an article on the sixth sense of sharks. There is also an article about performance in sport with a Dutch track‑and‑field champion.
Next time you fly with KLM and find yourself scrolling through the onboard entertainment, check the seat pocket and take a moment to savour some content that you can still, thankfully, hold in both hands.
holland-herald.co
This article is from Monocle’s March issue, The Monocle 100, which features our editors’ favourite 100 figures, destinations, objects and ideas.
Read the rest of the issue here.
