Where to Buy Books for the Book Hoarders in us
One of the biggest flex that a reader has is to exhibit their bookshelves to the world with all these amazing yet diverse titles, but all this while, we have to take care of our pockets too. We have to find the perfect book, the right edition, in the right condition and at the right price. So where should we buy all these books of our dreams? We did the research for you and have created a comprehensive list of places one can buy books from without burning a hole in your pocket.
Online Stores
The most popular and the most convenient way to find the book for you are these emerging online sites that sell books from different genres that you probably cannot find in your local bookstores. They provide a variety to choose from - price, cover, material, and occasional sales make these books budget-friendly. The most popular options available for the Indian readers to go for include:
E-Book Stores
Owning a kindle brings unlimited options to the reader with just a click. Buying books from the Kindle Store is easy and offers a wide range. Reading and carrying an e-book is easier and convenient than the hassle of a physical book. If you want to buy E-books and want to read them on your personal tablet or your phone, in that case, you might want to check out these sites:
Online Thrifting
I feel thrifting might be an Indian concept — the happiness of buying a product at a cheaper price is unmatched and buying a second-hand book with the memories of the previous owner provides a certain antique flavor to the book. Recently the number of thrift stores has increased quite a bit in India. They offer books in better conditions than what you would imagine if you haven’t thrifted before. But being careful is necessary, one should check the customer reviews before making a decision. A few thrift stores available are:
Surprise Boxes
If you struggle to find the right book or are always in a dilemma because you don’t know what to buy next, then this is the right way for you. These surprise boxes are thrifted too and are very budget-friendly. You can choose boxes by genre or stacks of books and if you are lucky, some of the stores even give you free bookmarks. Here are some of the sites that you might wanna check out:
Subscription Box
Subscription Boxes are a rather popular product in the Indian Market, but it has gained more attraction than was anticipated. If you have a little money to spare on beautiful books that are handpicked each month for you with exciting bookish merchandise, then this is just the thing for you. They have different boxes depending upon your preference and price range but unlike Surprise boxes, you will know what is stored in for you. The themes for these boxes are very fascinating and usually tempting. Here are some of the book boxes that you might want to subscribe to:
Local Bookstores
Online stores are definitely convenient and easy to access, but is buying online satisfying? Well not for me, if you have been a reader since the beginning of this decade then you might know the bliss of getting lost in the nooks and corners of the bookstores, touching and smelling the books while trying not to get caught doing it. It has its own charms. The books from your local writer can only be found in the bookstores. Some other perks of a local bookstore are the stock of books in regional languages. Keeping all these aside, we as readers should look out for the bookstore owners who are losing much of their income as this online shopping take a good portion of the market for it is we who they work for.
Book Fair
Since childhood, a book fair has been my absolute favorite book-buying place. I would wait for the whole year and buy a dozen books with my parents and my siblings and the subtle joy of seeing so many books together hits hard. There have been instances where I could meet the writer in the fair, and get their autographs too. I found books that I wouldn’t have looked for otherwise but found these gems while exploring the fair. And good for us that India has book fairs twice each year. So what is your reason not to get lost in one such Book Fair?
These are some of the best places you can buy your books from while choosing from a thousand options and price ranges to find your best fit and to be able to buy the books that you want because the more books we have, the more we read and the more we grow.
