Books are not that easy to get hold of in south east Asia, most people will also tell you that there are probably only 4-5 decent bookshops in the whole of Vietnam.
Walking the streets here, you really dont se a loot of books – and just a very limited selection of newspapers. There are a lot written and discussed about this, but in general – Vietnameese do not read a lot of books at all.. at least very limited. Reasons for this is probably many, but suggestion that the introduction of smartphones and ipad’s from year 2 – combined with a pretty broad selection of tv entertainment, seems to be the standard explenation. I read somewhere that it might be due to the fact that its not anything interesting to read…. well.
So, anyways, enter Randy’s Book Exchange! (retired American – Im at least pretty sure he is American)
Tucked away on a small road, just a few minutes walk from the main touristy area of Hoi An. After retireing, from whatever he did before – he didnt tell, but then again – I didn’t ask., he set up shop in Hoi An. Selling mostly used paperbacks, lots of english – I saw some swedish, Probably a few other languages to!
When entering the very nice kept house, you are at once aware that you are in both a home and a shop. Not that you feel like intruding or anything, there is a nice book-store vibe to the whole place. And as the sign reads, they are open – but keeping books dry and clean on a tropical island is not easy peasy.
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Its organized and neat, different sections of crime, biographies, an excelent scifi selection and your classics.. etc. Do expect to find some photocopy books here to – buy them if you like, I personally dont have an issue with those books.
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Two floors of books, the second floor holds a lot of english, and you should be able to find something. Its allways nice to spend a few dollars on places like this, we need to keep them in business – or soon there will not be any bookshops in Hoi An at all.
Also, you get a nice souvenier to bring home with you. So when you dig it out again after a few years, you can go “..aah thats right, I got this one in Hoi An – at a cool little bookshop”… wonder if that place still is around??
🙂
( 97 Lương Như Bích, Cẩm Nam, Hội An, Quảng Nam 00055, Vietnam )