Bookstore in Polish: Księgarnia. There are lots of them in Kraków, and a few that does English books too.
Not open on Sundays (not much is) maybe the gods want you to stay home and read the books you have already?
Massolit books
English language bookshop with a bit of everything good:
Coffee, cakes & a small-ish, but nice selection of secondhand books in the front room and 4 backrooms off to the right of the counter with some used paperbacks, and lots of non-fiction, including a little selection of Polish authors in English (new books).
I did find the selection oddly lacking in female authors (both in the front and the back) – unless they literally won the Nobel Prize (Wisława Szymborska (read her if you haven’t already), Olga Tokarczuk and Alice Munro), there were hardly any women in the shop – strange choice!
Location: Massolit Books, Felicjanek 4, 31-104 Kraków (Google maps)
Books bought, Sept. 25:
One French, three Polish, 50/50 on gender, 75-100% on death and dying, though by a cursory look Szymborska does sneak in a beheading, a suicide’s room, the banks of river Styx, on death, the letters of the dead, funeral and séance – so I guess more like 80 %.
Reading tip: Please give Szymborska a read – I know; Polish poetry – you’d think it was boring, but she is really funny and if you’re afraid poetry is too hard, start with her poems about cats? (they’re still great and funny).
And just remember how amazing a female author would have to be to get the Nobel Prize in 1996 as only the ninth female ever (they gave it to about a 100 men over the same period!)
American bookstore
English language books, located in the city centre on a pedestrian street, just the one room, but packed floor to ceiling with books.
I was there a few years ago and remembered the wall of red Vintage Moderne Classics, so I must admit I was a bit disappointed to walk in and see a mostly pink-to-yellow wall of what looked like beach reads, YA and genre fiction (but they did have the lastest popular reads as well – and I do remember most of the classics were on sale, when I was there last, so if that’s what the people want… They do still have a smaller selection of classics, and if you’re looking for a nice selection of new paperbacks, bestsellers and some easy reads, I think they’ve got you covered.
Location: American Bookstore, ul. Sławkowska 24a , 31-014 Kraków (Google maps) (Their website seems to be only in Polish?)
Other bookstores:
Główna Księgarnia Naukowa (maps)
A small selection of books in English (one tall bookcase) – but it looks like a great bookstore, if you can read in Polish.
Empik (downtown location maps)
Very pretty tunnel of books decorated with Krakówian authors in the vaulted ceiling.
While the tunnel is pretty (though women make up only 6 of the many, many authors deemed worthy of the walls… yes, by now I was wondering if this is a trend in Polish publishing and I counted), don’t come for the books in English. Those shelves in the last pic contains all their books in English including childrens, genre, all of it. Location is pretty though. It claims to be one of the oldest bookshops in Europe, founded in 1620, though off this location for 200 years and the original house burned down, and now owned by the chain Empik – sooo they are leaving the honours to Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon (open since 1732).
Empik has two more locations in town, one at the train station, don’t know if they might have more in English for travellers?
Księgarnia Akademicka – The Academic Bookstore (maps), is inside the Universitet Jagielloński, not even a sign outside. Polish only and it looked like study materials only – It reminded me of the sad shop inside the Humboldt University in Berlin – maybe it was the smell of old stone building as well.
LOKATOR coffee & books (maps)