From the familiar to the futuristic, bookstores are a beloved retail staple around the world. Here, we round up three that caught our attention.

New York’s SoHo neighborhood welcomed Bibliotheque, a bookstore, café, and wine bar concept conceived by father-son team Dr. Andrew Jacono and A.J. Jacono, with interiors from local firm Casals Evans Design Group. Inside the hybrid space, mahogany cabinets and bookshelves unfold beneath a tin ceiling and a gold leaf-clad skylight. The bar top and tables are lined with marble, while dramatic crystal chandeliers suspend above the lounge area, tying “the ​​space together in an extraordinary way,” says A.J. “When guests come to Bibliotheque, we want them to feel like they’re walking into an elegant room within their own home.”

Ceiling-height bookshelves line the walls at Bibliotheque in New York

In Boston, another multipurpose bookstore is tucked away in an 1845 Greek revival brownstone. Beacon Hill Books & Café, owned by Melissa Fetter, is the first bookstore to open in the city’s historic Beacon Hill neighborhood in nearly three decades. Fetter partnered with Dallas-based designer Cathy Kincaid to “make the five-story, classic building look residential,” she says.

Beacon Hill Books & Café reinvigorates an 1845 brownstone in Boston, Massachusetts

The historic townhouse is characterized by a fresh, youthful design concept thanks to a powdery blue hue adorning most walls. Stocked with books on art and design, the Aesthetics room, however, is swathed in a warm, bold red. The space is filled with custom bookcases with ornamental wood carvings and reading nooks complete with rattan chairs and banquettes. “I love the look on a first-time visitor’s face when they walk through the front door,” Fetter says. “They have a look of amazement and delight as they take in the extensive details and decorative touches that make the space so special.”

On the other side of the world, China’s Huai’an Zhongshuge bookstore—designed by Shanghai-based X+Living—transcends convention with exaggerated 3D forms that transform the space into a cosmic dreamscape. As if rising from a sea of stars, bookshelves resemble large-scale astronomical instruments, aglow from a ring-shaped light fixture. The irregular structures, crafted from black woodgrain and refined marble textures, represent the infinity of outerspace and mimic the governing laws of celestial motion.

“I wanted to create a vast and wonderful universe for visitors,” says Li Xiang, founder and chief designer of X+Living. “Every detail hidden in the space is meant to create an environment where they can shake off their troubles and immerse themselves in the boundless world of books.”