Kindles and Nooks have replaced whole catalogs of books for some of us. But some people will never give up their hard-copies. The smell, the feel, the heft can never be replaced. One of my friends almost cried when telling me how her boyfriend gave her set of Harry Potter books to his niece. “He gave away a part of me!!”

She now guards her books like Voldemort guarded those horcruxes. But I’d imagine this is what her idea of casual lending would look like. I also like to imagine that she follows these book-care tips (my favorite is “Open your book and dust it every month, every two months if you’re lazy.”)

I like to tease her about it, but as people buy more e-books I wonder if hardcovers will be more like those unopened action figure dolls that are meant to be coveted and free of any evidence of human contact.

I have to admit I have a thing for books. Not like a freaky fetish type thing, (like those people who get off by smelling books,) but a tangible book will always be the real deal.

Do you go into bookstores and spend most of your time at the built-in cafe? Do you scan the staff recommendations, choose one, and make a mental note to buy it with your Amazon Prime account? We like our bookstores, but we’ve been there. Before your local book retailer goes the way of the dinosaur, we thought it would be nice to show you some of the most beautiful book stores in the world.