Reading broadens the mind and fills it with knowledge. I have my Mom to thank for inculcating the love for reading in me. I have her too to thank for my spending lots of money buying bookshelves to hold my numerous books above all other household furniture. One of the first things I bought for my new home was a set of book cases. Priorities! 😀
So, I know there are also bibliophiles out there amongst all of you who come to my site to read about makeup and beauty – hey! That’s reading too! 😉 – and who love books too. I have a site to share with you which I discovered recently that ships books worldwide for free – am so happy 😛
But before we go on, please take a look at what some of my sisters in beauty blogging have been saying in March 2010
- Look good in 5 steps – its not hard! – AskMeWhats
- I want to go for this Sothys Collagene Hyaluronic Intensive Treatment! – RedLusciousLips
- Try this DIY face mask with artichoke tea to calm your skin – Soloverly
- See Beetrice look like Dragonball at her latest hair escapade – Beetrice’s Reviews
- You can’t beat the Lipglosseater for MAC swatches of the whole Spring Colour Forecast collection – LipGlossEater
- Why Connie does not use local drugstore eyeshadows – SkinDeco
And as for the site for books? Its the Book Depository which is based in the UK. I’ll share my experience shopping with them below.
I first knew of this site from LeGeeque who had a book sent to me. She did warn me that shipping might take a while, but since it was free neither of us were complaining. To my surprise however, the book got here in about 10 days in a bubble envelope and in good condition.
That prompted me to head on down to Book Depository to see what else I could find. To my utter joy, they had books I had been slaving over to find in our local bookstores! Its not a popular author so we don’t get all the books in the series she writes (for any one wondering, its the Marcus Didius Falco historical crime series by Lindsey Davis) but I found nearly all the missing books in my collection online and so I ordered them all – 5 of them. Payment can be made by Paypal.
The books took about 2 weeks to get to me and amusingly, each book comes in its own package so I received 5 packages over a few days. Not that I was complaining because it gave me something to look forward to 😀
Oh one other good thing – prices of many books are discounted. On average, each of my books were about US$10 (RM35) as opposed to RM42.90 here. Some are discounted by a lot, some by only a little and prices are quoted in USD, GBP, EURO, AUD and CAD. After you convert it into RM, its still cheaper than buying books in store here so I’m not complaining at all!
I have already preordered the paperback for the latest Terry Pratchett – Unseen Academicals – because I don’t know when it’ll get here or if it’ll come in a cover I want. Besides I only got it for US$9 😀
I found book selection quite impressive. There are many categories including children’s books and activity books and bestsellers too so there is something for everyone. I don’t think you can use the receipts as a tax deduction (for those in Malaysia) but I’m not too fussed about that. I’m very disillusioned with bookstores locally and if I can shop from home with free ship, and get books I want in the covers I want, all the better 😛 You can tell I’m fussy about my covers eh?
I will tell you that I have signed up as an affiliate for Book Depository which means that I get a small commission if you purchase anything using my affiliate links. It’ll help pay for my hosting bills if nothing else – but its your choice 🙂
Now do excuse me. I have some online book shopping to do! 😉 I think its that free shipping and discounted prices that’s really getting to me, as with all other sorts of shopping expeditions 😉
Are you a bibliophile too? I’m already thinking of getting another bookcase but I have nowhere else to put it!
Happy Saturday!
Paris B
Good fun isn’t it? I love books a lot too. Too bad space is a constraint here. Sigh
Yes! The site is going to make me broke and I wont be able to afford anymore makeup or skincare 😛
Thanks for sharing! I love to read! Usually order from Acmamall (could be local), Kinokuniya (online if I’m too lazy to go to klcc) and Amazon (but need to pay shipping).
acmamall : http://www.acmamall.com/
They now have a beauty section but I’ve only ever ordered books from them.
I remember acmamall but I haven’t used them. I didn’t know Kinokuniya was online LOL I found that Acmamalls’ beauty section was very similar to strawberrynet – even similar products and prices. Also prices were higher than retail here sometimes. I prefer to shop at Strawberrynet where I get the loyalty bonuses 🙂
Hey thanks a lot for recommending this website! I went to the book festival at PWTC last week and found a book that I need for my research, however it was USD90 (it was a hardcover book). They told me I can buy the paperback version for USD30+ but then it also have the shipping fee which is about USD20.
I went to this website and found the same book MINUS the shipping fee! I’m going to use your affiliate link just to say thank you so much for showing this website!!! 😀
Thank you ayaq! I’m so glad you found your book there – I love the free shipping element. It takes all the guesswork out of everything!
I love reading!! My favorite ones are fantasy and romance ones… Hehehe!!! But nowadays I write fanfiction to train my writing skills so I can start my own book… Hehe ^.^
LOL I wrote short stories too a long while ago. Its fun 🙂
My mum spent loads on books too, and I have two full bookshelves with more than a thousand titles. I just bought Snowball featuring Warren Buffet, and The Element by famous author Ken Robinson.
I dare not even count how many books I have now or what we have at home LOL… I haven’t come across the books you mentioned. Might have to check them out 🙂
haha, my self-bought (non-mommy) books are all business, economics, self-improvement or finance. I think they are better investments than novels. For novels, which I see no point keeping to take notes, I get them from our National Library, which is more well stocked than many perceive. =) My mum was the free one who counted the books. LOL. I don’t dare to count as well.
I spent alot on books during my teenage years too. I stopped after that coz renting books are easier on the wallet and don’t take up space. By the way, are there any places I can sell my books off?
I’m a sentimentalist – I don’t part with books so when I used to rent books as a student, I’d end up buying them if I enjoyed them! You could try selling your 2nd hand books at the book rental shops (I used to do that too) or at flea markets.
I love Book Depository- my local bookstore is quite average and the discount stores don’t really stock anything besides popular bestsellers. It’s fast and easy (sometimes too easy)! Better than the libraries, they’re so slow.
At least you have libraries, Sam! Ours is in a sad sad state so buying books is the only way to go. I’m so happy to have found Book Depository 😀
I love Book Depository. Books in Australia and ridiculously expensive, so what I do is I walk into Borders, see the book I want, note the price, and then go home to my computer and order it on BD instead 😛
One thing I don’t really like about BD though is the fact that they pack their books separately. I find that an incredible waste of resources. Other than that, BD is the way to go in terms of books for me!
We bought another bookshelf 6 months ago, but it really is time to get another one (if space permits). I’ve got so many books that one of the shelves have bent from the sheer weight of the books 😛
Hear, hear, I agree with you about Book Depository’s separate packaging – pains my heart to get so much plastic in the post. Think they connect separate suppliers in a similar way AbeBooks does, minus the shipping. Anyway, I tend to re-use them for orders on my used children’s books blogshop.
Paris – OK if I post the link? http://secondhandchildrensbooks.blogspot.com Very, very, very cheap hardcover and softcover children’s books in English (imported from the US)
Anyway, I was a big Novel City (Kotaraya?) fan when I was living in KL. And yup, I ended up keeping many of the books although not Virginia Andrews’ “Flowers in the Attic” LOL Sorry, those were the days…
Are those your bookshelves??? My bookshelves are bent too. I’ve had to redistribute the weight. Need to get bookshelves for the kids’ books – I think I’ve spent more than RM2,000 on their books. Well worth the money coz my boy is a bookaholic and the baby girl’s becoming one too!
Great post,girl. I’m all for beauty AND brains 😀
Those aren’t my bookshelves – too lazy to take pic of mine hehe… but they look something like that la! So glad your kids are reading. I think reading is going to be a dying art if people don’t take the trouble to inculcate this in their kids.
I didn’t know about the separate book packages until my order started trickling in. On the one hand, I must say its a waste of resources but on the other hand, Its saving me having to buy bubble envelopes to ship things in – nothing goes to waste 😉
Like Cece, I’ve found that buying books burns a hole in your wallet and thus have taken to renting them. Cece, do you know of any place to rent books as the place where I’ve been renting has closed down 🙁
Else I’ll just mousey over to Book Axcess for books at reduced prices
Hi 🙂
I don’t know where you’re staying, but there’s a small bookstore in Central Market.
Thank you so much for recommending the site! I got my books already and because I was too excited, I surprised Andrew a month too early :p
Can’t wait to get more books. Now I have something else to spend my paypal money on besides makeup! Buying books in Malaysia is not cheap!
What fun! I bet he was pleased 😀 I must agree about the books in Malaysia thing. Now I’ll likely just do it all online LOL
I keep seeing this site advertised in my Gmail account, but I never found anything that I could get cheaper elsewhere… so today, I decided to get a Moleskine (Woodstock edition) notebook (which is slightly cheaper than prices here) to try them out.
I’ve also bought from Better World Books, where used books are from $3.98 and their flat international shipping is $3.97, and it’s all for good cause. I’m so cheap I don’t mind buying used books and it’s still cheaper than Amazon Marketplace.
I don’t mind 2nd hand books too especially if its for something I might only read once. But I’m a bit fussy about the condition of my 2nd hand books – can’t have them looking too old or it puts me off 🙂
Heh – you can choose the condition of the used book when you order: Used Good and Used. I usually pick Used Good and end up with decent looking books – bit worn but not too old, etc.
Thanks for the info, Paris – and yay for new shopping!
It might be a good place to shop for kiddy books – I saw loads at pretty affordable prices 😉
I’m currently in the midst of packing up my books for the big move and just realized I have way more books than I remembered. Gotta hold on book buying until I get settled into the new place. 🙂
If I ever move, I’d be in deep deep trouble!
Thanks a lot for recommending the website. I love reading too and so I went to check the site straight away and found a few books I wanted discounted. And I don’t have to pay p&p. I’ll definitely use your link when I make the order. 😉
That’s awesome Gio! Thank you 😀
Oi woman, go to Book Axxcess in Amcorp Mall, top floor. It’s so crazy big and pretty now. Unseen Academicals and a few other Pratchett hardcovers are going for RM19-RM25 NOW. Brand spanking new! So many prettttyyy bookss….