Jak Wam Się Podoba

Jak Wam się podoba is a compact, twenty-square-metre bookshop on the corner of Wilczej and Emilii Plater streets in central Warsaw, close to the Palace of Culture and Science. Since opening in 1992, in the first years after Poland's transition away from state socialism -- when independent bookselling and access to foreign-language titles were still new freedoms -- the shop has built a reputation as an intimate alternative to Warsaw's chain bookstores, deliberately avoiding the dense, standardized shelving typical of larger retailers. Its stock centers on illustrated and art-focused books: albums on art, photography, fashion, architecture, design, and cuisine sit alongside pop-culture titles, English-language fiction, and children's and young-adult literature spanning both contemporary and classic titles. The shop's small footprint and hand-picked selection have made it a recurring favorite in local 'best bookstore' readers' polls in Warsaw, valued less for breadth of stock than for the specificity of its curation.