Where do you shop for English Books?

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  1. #11

    Comercial Press

    I have been to MANY bookstores in HK that carry english books. Most of the are overpriced. Comercial Press has been about the least expensive I have found. There is one is TST near the star ferry in the star building.
    Their is another in Causeway Bay. I can not remember the specific street but its across from the KFC and McD's on the main road with the Tram cars.
    The selection was larger in Causeway Bay at least for what I was looking for. Page one in Central or the one under Times Square come in second choice for browsing but prices are generally higher then others.
    I have been to the one in Wan Chai, I can not remember its name. Its near the entrance to the wet market as I recall and its selection and prices were decent.


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Posts
    6

    try the fleet arcade at fenwick pier. it's on lung king street in wan chai. are there any books in particular that you're looking for? maybe i have it and we can do an exchange.


  3. #13

    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Shatin
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    122

    I agree with Softbatch in that books here are way too expensive. I stock up in the Philippines where the price is at least that in the US and a fraction on what you have to pay here. Do not tend to buy anything here because apart from the price the range of books available is very limited. Even Pageone is nothing like the book shops I used to visit in London.

    The other thing I do not like here is that most of the books are imported from the UK where the quality is very bad. They still use poor quality paper that seems to turn brown and fall apart after only a year or two. I try to get US printed books that are printed on acid free paper and hence last a lot longer in Hong Kong's humid environment but you usually need to order these online (or from Shri)


  4. #14

    More on Flow

    Someone mentioned the 2nd hand bookstore called Flow. You have to root around a little but there are different sections (mystery, sci-fi, fiction etc). I love it but my other half is much more picky and doesn't enjoy it. The prices are a little steep considering they're 2nd hand but nothing like the insane costs for new books in Page One and the rest.

    It's in mid-levels between Hollywood and Lyndhurst, on Cochrane I think (near Gecko and Drop), not on street level though.

    I'll check out the traveler exchange one in TST - sounds good.


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Hong Kong
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    6,733

    There's a great little book store on park road (mid-levels) that stocks used books in excellent condition -- some of 'em look new. the prices are great, too. picked up some good paperbacks for like 25-40 dollars...it's called coffee book, the staff speak good english and you can hang out and have a bite to eat and even a beer if u want


  6. #16

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    HKG
    Posts
    31

    Page One opened a megastore at the 9th floor, Time Square, Causeway Bay earlier this year.

    www.pageonegroup.com

    Also you can try Swindon at Lock Rd, TST.


  7. #17

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    250

    dumb question

    but why do English language books cost so much in Hong Kong? Is it simply that shop rents are so much higher? the relatively small market for English language books?


  8. #18

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    wan chai
    Posts
    2

    swindon's on lock road in tsim sha tsui has come back to top place for the widest selections, especially after the two page one stores in times square basement relocated to a smaller place on the 9th floor, as shaddock mentioned.
    hk book center in the basement of 25 des voeux road was not bad, as mejulian points out.
    cosmos books on johnston road (the tram road) in wan chai has a good selection, too. it's midpoint between the wanchai station and admiralty. (this is what JPMeaney and TJlegg were talking about, ie english in upper floor, chinese in the basement).
    commercial press in causeway bay used to have a good selection as softbatch pointed out but nowadays i find the selection approaching that of united press (or united press approaching commercial press). the causeway bay branch is at the famous circular pedstrian overpass, where hennessy road becomes yee wo street and victoria park begins.
    united press has many branches mostly chinese but the two with decent english book selections are in langkwaifong (actually d'aguilar) beside 7-11 and and on hennessy road beside wan chai station.
    there is a small page one above starbucks in langkwaifong (d'aguilar).
    there is a new bookstore called xinhua at the beginning of morrisson hill road on the border of happy valley, wanchai & causeway bay. it is multi-storied and quite spacious. unfortunately the selection is not good and the arrangement of the english section (half the floor space) still needs a lot of improvement, but the space is a welcome change from the usual crowded hk bookstores and they operated till 11pm when newly opened in march.
    note that all the above english bookstores sell at 15 to 20% above cover price. i agree with kevin as i also stock up on books when in manila or in new york, or buy them off amazon or barnes & noble, send them to US friends's addresses, who then bring them over when they visit. however hk has its own amazon but without the discount, the prices are at cover price at best - it's called www.paddyfield.com. they used to offer free delivery if you live within hk but now have discontinued this. don't bother visiting the store as the display is sparse but if you don't want to pay more than cover price and are willing to wait 2 to 4 weeks after ordering, then paddyfield is your option.
    as whatshername says, for even lower-priced books, visit flow used bookstore on lyndhurst terrace beside the escalator every 2 months. as jayinhongkong mentions, coffee and books on park road out in the western district is not as stifling as flow but has a smaller selection than flow so if you are used to flow, coffee and books might be disappointing. the good thing about coffee and books is on weekends it opens till 11pm while flow closes at 7pm.


  9. #19

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    22

    for flow and coffee book - where are midlevels? is it near the escalator? if so, what part? I only have seen the escalator near LKF/Soho (Taco Loco). Please post more specific directions? are they close to any MTR/KCR Stations? or which bus?
    thanks much


  10. #20

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong island
    Posts
    254

    Hello

    snip

    They have a shop in Hennessey road but mainly children's books but they mainly ecommerce and you can search and order online.
    Delivery price is cheap.

    LA