Probably the largest store of the Orfey chain, located at Petrivka, provides something of a Mecca for book lovers. KP Media, photo by Oleksiy Boyko When it comes to book shopping, Kyiv has a lot to offer

where I could spend an entire day, and time flies by so quickly that I hardly notice it. I’m one of those people who cannot get used to reading on a computer screen, so downloading literature from the internet is not an option for me. Besides, the process of choosing and buying books at an actual store is much more fascinating. While rummaging around book shelves, I experience the excitement of an adventurous discoverer, who is about to find a new “America” among the dusty volumes. Moreover, it always excites me to crack open brand new books and turn pages that still smell of typographic ink, and that’s why I’ll probably never be able to comprehend “computer books.”

Luckily, more and more bookstores, and even book supermarkets, keep opening in Kyiv, giving me plenty of opportunities to indulge in my book mania. Moreover, practically all the regular food supermarkets have book departments, like Moya Knyha at the Velyka Kyshenya chain outlets. Yet such places deprive the process of book shopping its peculiar charm and turn it into a regular consumption process. Besides, such book departments don’t have a large or particularly unusual selection, though sometimes it is possible to find some rarities there.


Old style

I decided to start showing you around Kyiv book stores from the very beginning – from tiny and cozy book shops that have remained in Kyiv since Soviet times. The most popular shop of the kind is probably Syayvo, situated on the corner of Khreshchatyk, right across from Bessarabskiy market. Though the store is very small, it’s stuffed to the ceiling with literature of all genres. You can find lots of paperback editions of rare classics in good quality, travel guides, literature about Kyiv and Ukraine, some of which is written in foreign languages. You can also find original, artistic postcards of Kyiv made by professional photographers. Syayvo is also famous for its great selection of Ukrainian literature, both modern and classical, including translations of foreign authors. It is also one of those rare places, where you can find published research by scientists working at local universities. Not long ago the shop also offered a small choice of foreign literature in its original language, but later all those foreign books have since vanished. One of the advantages of Syayvo is that there are no assistants uncomfortably staring at you as you look through the pages, so you can check out the books for as long as you want.

Another old book shop, Znannya, is also located on Khreshchatyk and is practically unnoticeable among the bright modern shops. If Syayvo is more popular among informal youngsters, Znannya is more often visited by elderly people, though both shops have frequenters among all age groups. The assortment at Znannya is smaller then at Syayvo, though it has its advantages – you can find a lot of foreign authors translated into Ukrainian and books by Ukrainian writers and poets there that are impossible to find anywhere else. Unfortunately, the shop is currently going through hard times and on the verge of closing.

Book heaven

A much richer choice of literature can be found at book supermarkets. There are around five of them in Kyiv, yet only two can boast a wide chain of stores around the city – Litera and Orfey. Litera, earlier named Bukva (Russian for “letter”), was the first store of its kind and extremely popular among bookworms. At the beginning it even had a book bar inside the shop. Now its stores have spread all over the city, and you can come across them in the farther parts of Kyiv, usually near metro stations. Litera offers a great choice of fiction and science fiction, yet the choice of foreign literature is minimal and mostly limited to dictionaries, manuals, and text-books.

The other popular book supermarket, Orfey, has fewer outlets, but the book assortment is larger, particularly in terms of British and American modern and classic literature. Orfey is also the only bookstore where I could find the original versions of novels by authors like William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Henry Miller. In addition to fiction, the store has a large selection of manuals for learning foreign languages, from English to Japanese. You could walk around Orfey for ages, with its rows of shelves filled with modern Ukrainian and foreign literature, and sections on philosophy, psychology, history, gardening, etc. The whole second floor is occupied by the well-known book series “Dlya Chainikov” (“For Dummies”). On glass shelves at the entrance you can choose from a wide variety of books on art and collections of professional photos of nature. In addition to books, the book supermarket sells DVDs and CDs.

Knizhnaya Lavka, situated in Metrograd, sells a narrow assortment of literature and still manages to be the most expensive bookstore in Kyiv. The store offers posh book editions on art and photography, as well as collected works of some classic authors, but since they are so overpriced, it is more pleasant to look at them than to actually buy anything. The same books on art can be found at Orfey and collected works can be purchased at Petrivka at a far lower cost.

In fact if you want to find the books at the lowest prices, a bookstore is surely not the place for you to shop, since the books may cost Hr 5 to Hr 10 more than at the market. However, book shops are good places to choose the needed books without hurrying.

Petrivka is one of the most well-known places in Kyiv. As all kinds of books, newspapers, and magazines are sold at the market at significantly lower prices than at bookstores or press kiosks, the place is always crowded. It is also popular due to all the kiosks specializing in CDs, DVDs, computer games and programs, posters, and stationery.

The market consists of a large number of vertical rows and three horizontal ones; earlier it was very difficult to distinguish the direct placement of the needed kiosk, but not long ago they numbered each place.

If you are interested in foreign literature, Petrivka is not the place to buy something extraordinary – all you can find are classics and there are no rare books at the market. One of Petrivka’s advantages is its wide selection of dictionaries and manuals for students in Russian, British, and American editions. The choice of languages is impressive – you can even find textbooks on rare languages like Serbian and Mongolian.

Syayvo (6A Chervonoarmiyska, 235-4366)

Znannya (44 Khreshchatyk, 229-1045)


You can even buy antique books and literature that are hard to find anywhere else in the city at certain kiosks at the market. However, as can be expected, the rare books on art and history come at a significantly higher price. Moreover, the quality of this literature is very high, as it was published during Soviet times, and though expensive, the purchase will never leave you disappointed. If you are interested in good literature on natural sciences, this part of Petrivka is also worth a visit. Usually you can freely bargain with the sellers.


Rare volumes and book cafes

If you’re seriously after rare or antique books but are more used to comfortable book shops, there are several places of the kind in Kyiv. Probably the most famous one is Suchasnyk, which had to change its location not long ago and is now situated in a small underground room on the territory of Kupidon club. Suchasnyk is now much smaller then before, yet it is surprising that it survived at all. Besides, Kupidon also hosts the book shop of Kalvaria publishing house, which specializes in modern Ukrainian literature.

Another book shop that specializes in “second-hand” literature is Bukinist-Tsentr on Lyuteranska. It is also located in a small underground room and can accommodate no more than five to six people at a time. One of its advantages is that you can order some rare editions of books, but you should be ready to pay a big sum for it. More popular literature can be bought there at impossibly low prices, like at Hr 1 to Hr 5 a book.

Dinternal book shop is the only book shop in Kyiv that focuses on foreign literature. An arm of the chain, Globe Bookstore, located at Metrograd’s book department has a large choice of fiction and history books, whereas the second department, located on Muzeyniy provulok, is filled mostly with manuals for English language learners. You’ll find textbooks for all levels in British and American editions, including exercise books and dictionaries. In fact, the same manuals can be found at Petrivka, although purchasing them at an actually store obviously has more advantages. For one, you can order a book off their list to be shipped from abroad, and Dinternal offers some discount programs.

The city also has a few book cafes, where you can peruse books while sipping on coffee or tea. Unfortunately, two of the city’s only book cafes (Baboon and Kvartira Baboon), are at the moment closing or under renovation. Antresol, a restaurant/book cafe owned by the same people as Baboon and Kvartira Baboon is one of the coziest. In addition to a medium-priced menu, you’ll find shelves of classical, modern and foreign literature, which you can buy or just read while at the cafe.

Another cafe haven for book lovers is Kupidon club. Unlike Antresol, at Kupidon the patrons are mostly those connected to literature – writers, journalists, and other well-known persons from the artistic sphere. The assortment at Kupidon, however, is mostly limited to Ukrainian modern literature.

Litera (11/6 Tolstoho, 230-2574)

Orfey (6 Moskovskiy prospect, 464-4970)

Knizhnaya Lavka (Metrograd, 247-5615)

Suchasnyk at Kupidon (1-3/5 Pushkinska, 279-7171)

Bukinist-Tsentr (4 Luyteranska, in the yard)

Dinternal (2V Muzeyniy provulok, 278-4839)

Globe bookstore (Metrograd, 241-8412)

Antresol (2 Shevchenko, 235-8347)