Sunday 6 December 2009

A good look at books

One of the things I loved about living in KL a few years back is the ability to browse for hours at the Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC. While I don't actually buy that many new books, spending time flipping through pages of published text and photos is something that I quite like to do. For the buying part of it, I would normally go to the discount bookstore at Ampang Point. Additionally, warehouse book sales are events that I try not to miss.


In Johor Bahru, the only bookstore with a sizeable spread of books is Harris at Jusco Tebrau City. Harris is part of the Popular Book Store group.

This week, Popular Book Store organised a book fair at Danga City Mall and today is the last day. We made our way to the fair this afternoon and picked up a few books that were sold at significant discounts. My wife and I selected 3 books each while my son picked up 2 . I actually wanted to get a few more but I doubt I have the time to read all of them soon. There are still some books that I bought at a Times warehouse sale in PJ three years ago that remain in packing boxes.

All my choices are fiction. Two recent and one old. I had also wanted to get a Charles Dickens classic to re-read but while other titles from Dickens were available, The Tale Of Two Cities was not.

Of the recent books, one is called The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. I got to know of this book through blogger Dr Wati who posted about it last month. At only RM19.90 less 20% discount, it is a steal.

The books that I've bought today would probably cover my reading appetite for the next two months. After that, I'll be on the look-out for other book sales or maybe even find an excuse to make a trip to Ampang Point.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

BookExcesss in Amcorp Mall also just had its Big Bad Wolf Book Sale. Ended on the 2nd of December.

I pun, gi borong buku gak! Now got enough to keep me happy for next three months or so!

Iskandar Syah Ismail aka DR Bubbles said...

Pak Oldstock,

I just came back from Jakarta for our Qurbani meat distribution last week.Grabbed a chance to ride busway to visit Gramedia bookstore in Matraman. Bought lots of books with a fraction of cost if I buy it in Malaysia.

Books in Indonesia especially the translated ones are costing about Rp50,000 the most.

Gelap Mata! Now I am reading Rosihan Anwar's Sejarah Kecil "Petite Histoire" Indonesia.3 jilid = Rp50,000 each.

Mata Hari said...

Jadi ulat buku takpe...jangan jadi buku berulat, sudah la ye... :)

NanaDJ said...

Oldstock,
We have something in common after all. I love books, bookshops, book sales, book warehouses...anything to do with books. Spend more money on books than on clothes and other feminine things. Am never without books, the worst thing to me is to find myself waiting for planes, doctors, friends, appointments etc without a book to read or sudoko to solve. Will read anything and everything. My children and grandson have become book addict like me.
Am I weird or what?
Salam.

Fadhil said...

Verse,

I read about the book sale at Amcorp Mall through some friend's FB status (yours included). Memula tu rasa jeles jugak, tapi nasib baik Popular pun ada buat book sale kat JB.

Maybe one day both of us can exchange books so takyah la nak beli banyak sangat :-)

Fadhil said...

Drbubbles,

You're quite lucky to get to buy cheap books in Jakarta. I've been there only once but did not get the chance to browse the bookstores.

You sure must have an outstanding book collection by now, right?

Lama dah I tak pop over to your blog. Will do so soon. Keep up the good work.

Fadhil said...

matahari,

some of my books dah berulat pun... cannot be helped. Kekadang tu ada yang baca takat separuh je.

Fadhil said...

NanaDJ,

Of course you're not weird. A bit eccentric, maybe... but definitely not weird, unless you'd sacrifice food for books, hehehe..

I am a makan guy first, reading guy next :-)

I bet you'd also have an outstanding collection by now. So who are your favourite authors?

quoi? said...

the reluctant fundamentalist is a SUPERB book... :) enjoy.. :)

Fadhil said...

Mr Who,me?

I finished reading the book in 3 sittings. Honestly, I have mixed feelings. I liked almost the whole book except for the last chapter. I'm still trying to think back if I miss something.

Thanks for dropping by. How come you have stopped blogging?

Aizan Suhaira said...

There are a lot of great new titles the last time I set foot in Borders (about a week ago). It's frustrating that books are so expensive!

And we screwed up Kampung Buku big time. It could've been made the Asian publishing hub - hence making books much cheaper in this part of the world - but without proper planning (as usual), the project went kabloowie.

Fadhil said...

Aizan,

Books in Malaysia are too expensive. But there isn't that much incentive for publishers to lower the price because Malaysians on the whole, are not a reading community.

I personally, would be happy if someone can revive that Kampung Buku project.