Indian Readers discussion

Tell us where do you buy/get your books?

Recommendations of the bookstores, online stores, libraries in your city...

Note: Please do not post the links of illegal e-book download links..

Normally I buy the books from Strand book stall (20% off on all the books in the store in my office, not sure about the outside stores) and Crosswords in Bangalore.

Nowadays I start buying more from Flipkart, mainly due to the discounts and the fast delivery.

For e-books, most of the classics are available in GR e-books page itself.

for the past 5 years or so, most of my books are the result of online shopping
www.flipkart.com
www.infibeam.com
www.indiaplaza.in
are my favorite online bookstores.
At my place I get 0% discount on books, so I avoid buying from bookshops unless I am sorely tempted and cant wait to lay my hands on a book.

I bought heavily from Indiaplaza. Their discounts are more than any other bookstores. However, since past few months their service has become pathetic, so I have shifted to Flipkart.

I buy from Flipcart and physical book stored. Flipcart is good as it is easy to buy and choose. Buying books of foreign publication is good in Flipcart. The discount is good and they don't charge any delivery fee. Love this flipcart.

i dont have a specific place from where i buy. But yeah most of the books i have are bought from DC books/ Current books store in Calicut.. My mom has a VIP membership card there and so we get to choose 300rs worth books free every year and 20% discount for purchases that go beyond that limit.. ther drawback is that if we r buying english books the free limit is reduced to 200 but the discount is still there..
But nowadays i have taken to ordering from flipkart too..

I go always in the second hand bookshops because they are really cheap and I find almost always what I was looking for.
If I search for a particular book that isn't easy to find so I go on amazon.

But! now there is one problem in Italy (thanks to our beloved politicians): from 1st september bookshops aren't allowed to make discounts higher than 15% and only in special cases of 20% (books are here really expensive). The other problem is that this law is valid also for italian books on online bookstores like amazon. I hope only that they don't go to touch with this law the second hand bookshops.
Thank you Italian politicians!

but why? why impose that sort of silly rule? what do they stand to lose if the sellers decide to sell books at a bigger discount?

it's flipkart for me too, very convenient.

And it's the only place (beside Pustak Mahal store and publisher's and my website) where my novel Dream's Sake is available, I think.

Dream's Sake

Smitha wrote: "but why? why impose that sort of silly rule? what do they stand to lose if the sellers decide to sell books at a bigger discount?"

I don't know. They say that making high discounts is deleterious for the little bookstores because they have high expenses and may not make too many discounts. While buying at the supermarket is cheaper and buying online even less because there are more discounts like 50% or "grab three and pay two". They also say that the translation is very expensive...I don't know but as usal this is one of those laws that are approved without that people know something. I don't think that this law is made to protect the little bookstores because to help them the State could ask lower taxes. Perhaps the Italian publisher wanted to earn more money and so they asked help to the State to "protect" them.
I really don't know but doing this they estrange people from the books.

may be there are higher stakes than just helping little book shops. Always there is.

Flipkart and Infibeam have completely pushed out most brick and mortar stores for me. They are able to reduce the margins amazingly. Even the footpath geeks at Connaught Place were selling that Emperor of Maladies book for 450 (marked down from 499) while FK only ask for 299!

To buy second hand books, I prefer to buy them from people like the old man in Nehru Place [delhi], who speaks perfect english and even recommends books to you [and even pronounces Jung properly!] and sells them for 35 rupees each :D

I buy most of my books from Amazon.com, but sometimes I will go to the Barnes & Noble bookstore nearby.

Flipkart & Infibeam

only 2 places - flipkart and the second hand stores all along Abids n Kothi (Hyderabad). I love the second hand ones better!

dely wrote: "Smitha wrote: "but why? why impose that sort of silly rule? what do they stand to lose if the sellers decide to sell books at a bigger discount?"

I don't know. They say that making high discount..."


Somehow this is true. See with the kind of discounts we get from Flipkart, we hardly visit the bookstores. Nowadays I visit bookstores only to have a look around for new arrivals and note down the books to order in Flipkart.. :P

Hope there won't be any such rule imposed in India.. :)

touch wood.

Chintan wrote: "dont worry no such rule would be imposed in India..almost impossible"

I am thinking about sending you a souvenir from Italy...our dear psychodwarf and his ministers.
Are you happy? :D

the philosophy behind this rule would probably be like the kind of opposition to majority-FDI retail in India these days; people feel they will hurt the business interests of the kinara store owners. It isn't a radical idea [though obviously it hurts the consumer more than helps anyone else]. I think the american term for these small shopes is 'mom and pop store'.

hey 5'5" is not 'dwarfish' >:(

Sudhang wrote: "the philosophy behind this rule would probably be like the kind of opposition to majority-FDI retail in India these days; people feel they will hurt the business interests of the kinara store owner..."

Mmh, I don't know what FDI is but I think I understand what you mean. But if the State wants to protect the small shops then they should also do something against the Malls.
I really can't understand this new law about books but I know that in this period all taxes are increased, cigarettes, health-ticket has been re-introduced because the State needs money and takes it unfortunately by us citizens. The problem is that we don't receive anything in return, there is no improvement of schools or hospitals or roads ... nothing. We have to pay the debts of our politicians.

I think a good idea to help little bookstores could be this one: transform the bookstores also in pubs where people can sit down, drink something, listen to the music and in the while they can give a look to the books, read them there or decide to buy them. I think this could be a good idea but the Italian bureaucracy is crazy and I suppose that to do something like this booksellers become fool and also old meanwhile.

@Chintan: yes, the psychodwarf is our PM, Berlusconi. And yes, he had a lot of escapades and he is really a shame for Italy. It is really sad and such a shame (he had the courage to ask Barack Obama if he is tanned! :-( Berlusconi wanted to be funny but it is not funny.

hey I didn't mean to imply I agree with the policy. far from it

fdi means foreign direct investment... it's about allowing companies like walmart to set up shop in india.. it will be vry cheap for customers but opponents are worried about small store owners

hello all

please check www.bigbook.co.in

I buy them frm Bookstores....No favourites... Hav purchased some Online too... Used to borrow it from Library initially.. now luv to own them....... Had read somewhere "Never borrow what you can buy, especially Books".. I just try to follow it.....

Rahul wrote: "Had read somewhere "Never borrow what you can buy, especially Books".."

I am also following the same.. :).. I try to buy most of the books I want to read.. :)

one thing I wonder is how to preserve books - most of my childhood books have yellowed pages and some really old ones owned by my parents have even started crumbling. Its difficult to preserve books if you dont have sophisticated means.

My friend usually scans all his favourite books. Dedicated :P

baap re. How much time he must have spent in scanning!

He's a student, so obviously he has plenty of free time.

thankfully my bookshelves here are made of granite fixed to walls

keeping books safe is a big problem... I give away books b4 they destroy completely....... have tried many thngs but nothing hepls... keeping books in rotation (sharing) is good method to keep them safe.....

I have had bad experience lending books - these are either not returned or are returned in a sorry state.
I donate books which I didn't like to the local library

Chintan wrote: "...also avoid shelves made of wood...prefer stone instead"

Really? Is wood not good for books? Didn't know this even because almost all the bookshelves I see are of wood :/

I lost several of my books to termite several years ago. Now they are locked away in the iron almirah.

my favourite : flipkart ....

& it might be hard to believe but they don't have " The 3 musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas .... :(

Ashish wrote: "I bought heavily from Indiaplaza. Their discounts are more than any other bookstores. However, since past few months their service has become pathetic, so I have shifted to Flipkart."

Same here..!!!

3 musketeers is a public domain book free for download, if I am not mistaken

flipkart & airport/railway station bookstores. i also keep buying 2nd hand books from British library at Delhi...

now trying to shift to Nook, the ebook reader from Barnes & Noble.

Kushagra wrote: "my favourite : flipkart ....

& it might be hard to believe but they don't have " The 3 musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas .... :("

I just checked, they do have it! Try searching with three instead of 3

I ususally buy books. Love to own them like Anbu and Rahul here. (But now am troubled with the space and preserving them. Silver fish and pages yellowing are have rendered me helpless)I get my books from bookstores. Haven't tried online stores yet. Howrah Railway Station used to be one of the places, Oxford Bookstore and few local ones back at home. Here in Bangalore I discovered Blossom Book House. You get both second hand books and new ones, at discount rates. I have never been disappointed there.

Ankur wrote: "flipkart & airport/railway station bookstores. i also keep buying 2nd hand books from British library at Delhi...

now trying to shift to Nook, the ebook reader from Barnes & Noble."

Thanks m8 !!!

I think Flipkart is the best online bookstore...they offer great discounts and they ship your books really fast..its great...

can someone please suggest a good place to buy books in Bangalore !!!

I've been renting books from Just Books (aka Rent, Read, Return), they seem to have a lot of branches all over B'lore. Plus, there's a used books store on Church Street called Blossom Book House which also has a pretty good collection. But I'm new to the city, so I suppose there might be other, better options as well.

Blossom Book House is book-lovers paradise, I would opine. Just Books is a great option as well. Then there is Gangaram's at M. G. Road.

I would suggest Flipkart for their discounts..
They deliver on the immediate next day of your order so its not a long waiting..

Blossoms is a good option to buy second hand books..

There are Landmark, Crossword also.. But you hardly get any discounts there.. Its good to go there only on special sales..

Strand is giving 20% off in my office outlet, not sure of any discounts on the stores outside..

just books...blossoms bookstore...gosh!!! m so jealous!!!!
i hv tried landmark , crosswords. n road side bookwalas at king circle n fountain(VT)...(in mumbai btw).....luv 2nd hand books...as thy r cheap plus dat yelloiesh pgs.. :-)

flipkart and landmark

hey i made my first online purchase frm flipkart...hurayyyyyy!!!...
name of d book is "firmin" by sam savage. its a rat lives in a old bookstor whr he chews on d books fr surviving purpose..n somehow develops d ability to read...d twist is soon d bookstore is gonna close down....
ws looking fr dis book evrywhere..read abt flipkart here..so thot it ill nt hurt to gv a try...so i brot..wid a discount toooo..yupieeee
thnk u guys...m damn excited!!! :-) :-)