# Finding books in Dubai



## hhl103 (May 3, 2011)

Hi all,

I am kind of a bookworm and like reading all sorts of books ranging from history, politics, finance, fictions to literature. I will be moving to Dubai soon and am just wondering if it is easy to find the books I need in Dubai.

How's the quality of the library service like in Dubai? Are plenty of English books available? 

Also, are there any english bookstores? If not, then I will just buy books from Amazon and ship it there. Is the shipping serivce like that expensive in Dubai?


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## NYC4Life (Jul 5, 2011)

Kindle.


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Kinokuniya in Dubai Mall is an excellant bookstore and the size of 3 football pitches, you should find everything you want and more in there. Magrudy's is Dubai's oldest book chain, going through something of a bit of a change at the moment but the one in Jumeriah is still very good.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

10 years ago, the booklovers situation in Dubai was pathetic. Not any more

Kinokuniya as DR R mentioned is huge and has books on most subjects
Magrudys have shut down 3 of their stores, but there is a large one at Festival city
Borders are ok as well, and they typically have coffe shops and nice armchairs (unlike Magrudys and KK), where ou can sit and read as much as you want.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Kinokuniya is amazing I love it there

For any speciality books you can't find here you can open a Ship and Shop account with Aramex and get the delivered from USA or UK so you can buy as you would buy normally from Amazon, Barnes, etc.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Buy an ereader before coming is my suggestion. Love my kindle  Get the 3g version if you decide on a kindle, as it works in the uae. If you have access to wifi then isnt an issue but I dont have wifi at home and have to take it to work or to a place with wifi to get my books.


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## ipshi (Jul 23, 2010)

I work in a bookstore too (none of the above) and wud b happy to help out in any way u need 

also... there is a second hand bookstore on jumeirah beach road you can go to return books you've read and want to sell back... or buy more from (as is my wont )

love knowing about a booklover in dubai -- see u soon


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

Another second hand bookstore behind Ibn Battutu Mall


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## Sparkysair (Jul 16, 2008)

Definitely invest in a 3G kindle if you can, but bare in mind that you will need a credit card and Amazon account registered in your home country to use that store.

Otherwise, there is also a second hand book store in Dubai Garden Centre on SZR.


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## Appin (May 3, 2011)

Hey there, Where is the second hand book shop along JBR? Oh yeah and whats the name? Cheers!


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## ipshi (Jul 23, 2010)

not on JBR, the store is in jumeirah beach road inside jumeirah beach road mall (its a small mall a little before mercato mall)

the store is called house of prose


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## NYC4Life (Jul 5, 2011)

Sparkysair said:


> Definitely invest in a 3G kindle if you can, but bare in mind that you will need a credit card and Amazon account registered in your home country to use that store.
> 
> Otherwise, there is also a second hand book store in Dubai Garden Centre on SZR.


Sparky -- does a wifi Kindle not work? Is it blocked?


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## Sparkysair (Jul 16, 2008)

NYC4Life said:


> Sparky -- does a wifi Kindle not work? Is it blocked?


I'm not 100% sure to be honest. I know expats in many countries but particularly Spain have had their Amazon UK accounts suspended and been told that they have to use their local Amazon store. I'm sure that can be avoided by using a VPN* but I got the 3G for convenience and haven't had any problems so far.

*which is illegal and very very naughty - don't do it


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

3G works here fine in the uae. My wifi kindle works fine here as well, just a pain when you do not have a wifi connection at home to download to your computer, then have to manually move them over. Or go somewhere that has free wifi.


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## Tsu Tsu (Feb 3, 2009)

hhl103 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am kind of a bookworm and like reading all sorts of books ranging from history, politics, finance, fictions to literature. I will be moving to Dubai soon and am just wondering if it is easy to find the books I need in Dubai.
> 
> ...


If you go to a book store, I would also recommend you 'Kinokuniya'; huge one in the 2nd FL at Dumai Mall. English ones, Arabic, also Chinese and Japanese ones are there...


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## mitchell0417 (Oct 11, 2010)

There is also an English Library in the MAll of the Emirates. It's AED 200 to join and AED 50 a year (so 250 in year one) Can take out up to 8 books at a time I think.


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## ash_ak (Jan 22, 2011)

mitchell0417 said:


> There is also an English Library in the MAll of the Emirates. It's AED 200 to join and AED 50 a year (so 250 in year one) Can take out up to 8 books at a time I think.


Wow, really good to know. thanks.


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

Is the library on Jumeirah Beach Road still there?


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## NAM (Jul 30, 2011)

Hey,

theres a second hand book store behind Ibn Battuta Mall, also another one inside Garden Center on Sheik Zayed Rd. think you can exchange books there, as well as buy at a cheap price. But Kinokuniya, is heaven..you could spend a whole day there and come out feeling like you did not waste your day in a mall 

Nazish


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