We’re thrilled to FINALLY be able to offer new, affordable shipping rates to countries serviced by QExpress, the shipping service we’re using now. In addition to reliable-but-pricey DHL, you can now opt for our Registered Airmail option to many countries within APAC, and to the US/UK. This takes approximately 2-3 weeks to arrive, but it will be tracked and delivered to your doorstep. Destination Registered Airmail (via Q-Express) Courier (via DHL, except within Singapore) Singapore FREE $11 (via Q-Express) Malaysia & Indonesia $10 for the first book, $5 per additional book $35 for t ..read more

Ramadan, the month of the annual fast, is here again, and hundreds of millions of Muslims are abstaining from food and drink from dawn till dusk. For Muslims and non-Muslims alike, here are seven books relating to Islam and the Islamic world. The Koran The Qur’an, here spelled The Koran, is the holy book of Islam and is usually recited by Muslims in its original Arabic. The 114 chapters of the text each varies in length and topic, and cover a wide range of topics from mystical to legal. And as Islam is also an Abrahamic religion like Judaism and Christianity, The Quran contains stories of f ..read more

February has been an eventful month for Mars. In less than one month, spacecraft from three countries have arrived at the Red Planet. On 9 February 2021, the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe – the country’s first Martian mission – entered the planet’s orbit. The very next day, China’s first Martian mission Tianwen-1 joined the UAE and will orbit Mars while it waits for an opportune time to land. Eight days later, NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars’ Jezero crater to conduct various scientific experiments, including investigating whether there was once life on Mars. Mars has always c ..read more

Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, is happening in 8 days. Families all over Singapore, due to Covid restrictions, will welcome a maximum of 8 visitors to their homes – a lucky number, at least! With less socializing and more time, here are 8 lucky books on all things Chinese, from light reading to serious scholarly works. Some Chinese Ghosts – Lafcadio Hearn There’s no better time of the year to spend with Some Chinese Ghosts, except possibly the 7th month/Hungry Ghost Festival. This is a collection of made-up tales by Lafcadio Hearn, better known for his books on ..read more

Dear everybody, Our retail store at Burlington Square is now officially closed. We’ll be operating online only from now on, and all purchases will henceforth be mailed. Thank you for your support all these years, and it was wonderful to have met all of you who dropped by, to have forged friendships with many, and to have partaken in some amazing conversations about life, the universe and everything ..read more

We haven’t been able to open for quite awhile now because of the lockdown, known officially in Singapore as the “circuit breaker”, to the consternation of all electrical engineers and technicians. The official “Circuit Breaker Period” ended on June 1, but most restrictions are still in place.  For the time being, we’ll be operating online only. We’ll try to open our physical shop shortly after restrictions are lifted, but there’s a good chance we’ll be operating online only even after. Incidentally, do check out our revised shipping methods. Now that our public service announcement is don ..read more

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will be operating ONLINE ONLY until further notice. We are also revising the following shipping and delivery options: Cancellation of the ‘Collect at our store’ option, because our retail store has to be closed by law. Suspension of International Singpost Registered Airmail: Because of uncertainty in worldwide shipping, we will be suspending our Registered Airmail option for the time being. All international orders will be sent via a courier service such as DHL. Stay safe, everybody! Hopefully the COVID-19 nightmare will be over soon ..read more

There have been many fine presses in the 20th century that have produced many beautiful books, but there has possibly never been a more comprehensive collection of beautiful books than the Oxford Library of the World’s Great Books series. The Franklin Mint This series was published by the Oxford University Press, but it was commissioned to be printed by the Franklin Mint, an American private mint that still makes coins, jewelry, diecast vehicles, dolls, sculpture and other collectibles. The Franklin Mint has been operational for over five decades, but its publishing arm, the Fra ..read more

If there’s one book we recommend collecting on the Malay Archipelago, it’s The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace, probably one of the most important books ever written about the region. Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) is one of the most important underrated figures of the 19th century. A friend of Charles Darwin’s, and whose paper Darwin read before publishing On The Origin of Species, Wallace posited a theory of natural selection strikingly similar to Darwin’s later publications. Given the close contact between the two men, some scholars today argue that Darw ..read more

One of the most important of the medieval Persian poets, SA’DI (1194-1292) is still read widely today, with an influence that extends to Western writers such as La Fontaine, Diderot, Voltaire, Hugo, Balzac, Goethe, and Emerson. He spent much of his life traveling through Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, returning to his native Shiraz (in what is now Iran) as an elderly man to compose works based on his experiences and wisdom gained. The Gulistan (“garden of roses”), part prose and part poetry, is divided into four “gateways” (“The Manners of Kings,” “Concerning Darweeshes,” “The Excell ..read more