My favorite book store

Books- I have a great love for buying stacks after stacks of books for my kids. I love the smell of the new books, I love seeing my kids dive into another world and enjoying it. 

But over time buying new books can be quite hefty on the wallets. 

As an alternative, I go to the library and borrow them. Since it cost absolutely nothing. But borrowing them would mean we can't read at our leisure and we need to be mindful of the due dates. And sometimes the books are so good that we desire to keep them forever. 

What do I do? I go to my most favorite bookstore in Singapore- Evernew Book store located Bras Basah Complex. It sits at a corner of the complex right next to the National library. You can NOT miss it. It's filled with treasures at low low low low (can I emphasize anymore?) cost. 

Sure, the books aren't exactly in mint condition and it doesn't have the whiff of new prints. But, the books aren't in a shabby condition either. There are no dog ears, tattered/ missing pages or chewed off covers. They are mostly in good condition. 

To me, a true book lover would look beyond the condition of the book and look right into it's contents instead. And that is us. We don't really care if the books are in tip top glossy condition, all we care is what are the books telling us. 

So how low is low? Let's take a look at my recent purchase:

I bought one Peter and Jane series and two Ladybird Read it Yourself books. I got them at $1 each! That's 3 books for $3! I would not have gotten these books for $3 not even one of them! I suppose these books can cost up to $4-$5 EACH!   If I had bought them new, I would spent roughly about $15? I saved $12 by buying second hand! 

It makes perfect sense to buy these books at second hand since my preschooler would outgrow them in time. I mean, we don't expect a primary 3 kid to be still be reading these books right? Once we are done, we can give them away without feeling a pinch in our pockets. 

Primary school parents! You will be happy to know they sell second hand assesment books too! One needn't to worry if there are scribblings or half undone books, it's all clean. Also, they sell second hand textbooks! Sure, there could be some highlights here and there but the store makes sure it is useable and the contents are still visible. I've made a mental note to head down to this shop first before buying any new textbooks. 

Here's another book I bought. This comic series can easily chalk up to $9+ for a new book. I got it at half the price, although, one could get a totally new book at the same price in Malaysia! But alas, we are living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. So second hand books at slashed prices will do. 

One thing though, you may not find books that you want. Their supply of the books are not regulated and it depends very much on what's being brought into the shop.

 

While the shop tries to organise the books into categories as best as they can, you would need to be prepared to dig through the piles to look for the titles you want. However, I take pleasure in soaking up the books so I don't mind spending a minute more in the store. 

Also, just to add, Bras Complex is haven for book lovers. There are more than one second hand bookshops like Evernew. If you can't find the books you want, simply skip to the next all in the same complex. If all else fails, you can still buy the books new at the Popular store in the same complex. It's a one stop shopping area for book lovers. I also particularly love to drop by Maha Yu Yi bookstore (#03-11). It is a book store selling mandarin books. I love their selection of books for pre-schoolers and older children. The store assistant is super friendly and helpful- and she speaks English too (and all the non-mandarin speaking parents say..'YAY!').

 

Evernew Book store is located at:

Bras Basah Complex

Bain Street

Blk 231, #01-07

 

And lastly, before you groaned "oh bother, here's another sponsored blog advertisement!". Well, you can be rest assured that I was not paid in any way to write this post (although if the shop owner feels I deserve free books after reading this post, I wouldn't mind!). This is purely my own sharing. I wrote to share this just because I love this place that much! Spreading the joy!