Where to get your reading fix in karachi

Since I am into books, I thought why not write a post about the places where I go to buy these books. I’ve searched on the net trying to find some good bookstores besides the ones that I go to, but sadly, there isn’t much information about them considering the size of the city that we live in. I don’t know whether it’s the lack of interest in reading or the lack of interest of these small bookshop owners into using the net as a marketing avenue. Anyway, here goes, the list of places where I go to satisfy my craving for books. Note that I mostly read fiction, so this list is based on that:
First of all, there’s Liberty Books, the best place to go to buy any book you need, because of their huge collection and helpful staff, although sometimes they are overzealous in their helpfulness and end up chasing the customer away. Of course you have to pay the top buck to get your books from there as not only are they the most expensive, but they don’t usually offer discounts at their stores either. They do have a bargain basement at their Clifton shop near BBQ Tonight, but the books that they have there are just not worth the trip. But if you want something that you can’t find anywhere else, you will probably find it Liberty. Just be ready to pay the top price for it.
Another way to go is to shop at Liberty’s online store, where you get free delivery anywhere in Karachi and you get 20% off on each and every item. The good thing about shopping online is that you can shop at your pace, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, without any pushy sales guy giving you advice on which books you should buy. You can check out the ratings of the books on other websites, read reviews, before making the purchase and if you are on their mailing list you will get regular emails of the new arrivals which you can purchase with a few clicks while sitting in your home/office. Although there are a few kinks in their site, for instance while browsing thru the books, you get three options for sorting the books, i.e., by price, by newest arrival and by title, but these don’t work out the way it should as they only sort out the 12-15 books that are displayed on that particular page and not the entire category.
Another draw back is their delivery times, I’ve ordered books that have been delivered the very next day and for some I’ve had to wait for over a week, sometimes even two to three. This you don’t know when you order, however from my experience I’ve realized that it’s best to order in small lots. If you order one or two books and those too from the new arrivals, you will get the fastest delivery times. If you go for 8 to 10 books in an order and they are mixture of new arrivals and published previously then you better be ready to wait for your delivery.
The reason that I have been able to come up with is that they don’t have a central stocking warehouse or if they do, it doesn’t have the entire collection. Therefore they ask their various bookstores to send them the books and once they have all the books they will send them to you. Also, while ordering they won’t tell you whether the book you are ordering are in or out of stock. My last order, which compromised of 9 books, was delivered after over a week and that too after I’ve called them two or three times, in two batches. Out of nine two of the books weren’t delivered. When I called them up about it, I was told that they are out of stock so I can either order some alternate books or ask for refund. If they can work out these kinks, they’ll be one of the best option for a bookie like me.
Third stop is the Paramount Books, located in PECHS, they are famous for their annual book fair in August every year where they offer big discounts on all their wares. I only go to their annual book fair so I don’t know what kind of discounts if any they offer. They also have an online book store, but navigating thru the site is so tedious that I’ve never bothered to order any book online thru them.
Next up, we have Time Books and Stationers, located near National Stadium, next to Time Medico. This is an excellent stop and has recently become my number one shop for books. Reason being that their prices are below Liberty in most of the cases plus the owner will give you 8-10% discount, but you’ll have to ask for it. So lets say The Bourne Identity, which I was browsing at Liberty Online was priced at Rs425 and after 20% discount it will come down to Rs336. I found the same book at Time Books priced at Rs375, and after 10% discount I was able to get it for Rs340. But you’ll have to be careful because some of the books, for instance A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammad Hanif, are priced at same rate here as at Liberty so for those you’ll be better off getting from Liberty Online and get 20% off rather than 10% at Times. Needless to say it’s better to come here rather than going to the Liberty’s brick and mortar stores, where prices are fixed. If you can’t find something here then go to Liberty.
These are the only places I go to buy new books. However more than half of the times I buy used books in order to avoid a big dent on my wallet. My most frequented hangout for used books during my school days used to be Khori Garden. It had the most amazing collection at the most amazing prices and in the most amazing condition. Almost all of the books there used to be in brand spanking new condition at throw away prices. However after coming back to Karachi, I haven’t been able to go there because of the traffic congestion in that area, lack of parking places, lack of time needed to go there during weekdays.
Nowadays, I think the best option for used books has to be the Sunday Bazar in DHA. You get tons and tons of books there, the only problem is that it’s only on Sunday and if you don’t live in that area, then it’s a long ride to and from and parking is a mess!! But it’s all worth it when you can get 3-4 books for the price of one that you’ll buy at Liberty or other places.
So what do you do if you want to buy used books during weekdays?? Well, if you in Clifton/Defence area, there are a few used book shops in Khadda Market, plus one at Boat Basin. And if you are on the other side of the bridge, then you cannot go wrong by going to the University Road, next to Bank Al-Falah and opposite Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid, where you’ll see different book walas selling their books on thellas on an empty plot. You can get a paperback here anywhere from Rs20 to a maximum of Rs100 in very good condition and if you sister or wife likes to read Archie comics, then check out these prices, Rs25 for singles and Rs50 for doubles.
There are two ways to go around shopping here. You can either spend time to go thru the entire collection of each and every thellay wala and find the stuff that you like, or, you can fix a price with someone, give them a list of books that you want, and he’ll arrange them within a day or two. You can come back, check the condition of the books that he has arranged, take what you like, and leave what you don’t. Personally I prefer this method as it saves a lot of time.
So there, I think that about sums it up for the places I go to take care of my fix for reading. If anyone who reads this and thinks that I have missed some stops, feel free to post them in the comments section.