Readers rejoice: these online bookstores offer a curated selection of amazing titles, from local favorites to the elusive works you’ve been searching for.
Books have come a long way from the days of yore: every title you can think of is readily available in electronic format with just a few clicks. But print books will always have a special place in the lives (and shelves) of avid readers. Building a physical library that you can return to will always have its charms. This entails browsing bookstores for your next favorite read, which is part of the fun; but plenty of independent booksellers have also found a home on the internet, delivering print books to customers’s doorsteps, many of which are pretty tricky to find in local brick-and-mortar stores.
Certain booksellers can only be found on Instagram and Facebook, where they post visual catalogues of books (let’s call them “book uploads”) that buyers call first dibs on; others have their own websites, and some have both. Curious? Here are five online bookstores to check out if you’re on the hunt for quality literature.
READ ALSO: 8 Books By Women, About Women
Page 394 Bookshop
The list starts off with Page 394 Bookshop, which hosts frequent sales on Facebook and the occasional Instagram-exclusive sale (@page394books). Describing itself as “an independent bookshop for the incurably curious and the sublimely imaginative,” it stays true to this tagline with a wide selection of both Philippine and international titles covering all kinds of topics.
Whether you’re searching for works from influential thinkers like Albert Camus, Paolo Freire, Walter Benjamin, Susan Sontag, Judith Butler, or Simon de Beauvoir; or an extensive range of Filipiniana books that delve into the country’s history, culture, and politics, there’s really something for everyone. Page 394 also keeps itself updated, dropping the latest Booker Prize, Nobel Prize in Literature, and National Book Award-winning titles—perfect for those who want to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Bookends & Beginnings PH
Bookends & Beginnings PH is yet another indie online bookstore with an exciting selection of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, supplying readers with hard-to-find books—some popular in the online book community, others hidden gems. The store offers new books fresh off the press, as well as remaindered books that are usually great deals.
Mainly on Instagram (@bookendsbeginnings), the shop often provides short, helpful descriptions of each book for sale, which welcomes new readers to give them a try. Even if you don’t end up snagging all the books you wanted during a drop, you’ll at least come out of it with some new and interesting titles to look out for in the next sale.
Omniana Books & Artwork
A little different from other bookstores on this list, Omniana Books & Artwork also sells the hottest titles through its beautiful online shop. For those who aren’t keen on experiencing the adrenaline of a fast-paced first dibs system, this is the place to visit. Available books are put on display in the website, and interested buyers simply need to add them to the cart and check out.
Like most good independent bookstores, Omniana Books & Artwork keeps up with the latest literary trends, always maintaining a stock of popular titles. Graphic novels, poetry collections, memoirs, novels, and the like—they’ve got it. And while we bibliophiles want to say we’d never judge a book by its cover, let’s be honest: many of us do, to some extent. Part of the magic of getting physical books is admiring the artistry of their cover designs, and Omniana’s selected editions are nothing short of breathtaking.
Roel’s Bookshop
Roel’s Bookshop is another fan-favorite bookseller that conducts weekly book uploads on Facebook (every Saturday, if you want to start marking your calendar), and regularly adds new books to its online shop. But it stands out among the names in this list because it also has a physical store at 176 Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village, Diliman, Quezon City.
The bookshop is a neighborhood staple among the area’s university students, professors, and just about anyone who loves a good book—give it a visit, if you can, but if that’s too far a destination, their online platforms are great too. The store specializes in selling rare, out-of-print books and antique collectibles, having sprouted in 2009 from the cherished collection of founder Roel Abaya. While the store started out selling an assortment of philosophy titles, it’s since expanded to cover a variety of genres at great prices, even featuring a strong Filipiniana section with books from local writers and University Presses.
Tsundoku Books
As the name suggests, Instagram-based Tsundoku Books (@tsundokubooks_), has a particular affinity for all things Asian literature. Its name is based on the very specific (and for many bookworms, painfully relatable) Japanese word tsundoku, which loosely translates to the practice of collecting books and leaving them in a to-be-read pile.
The store offers a mix of new and used books (which means plenty of great deals), some by Western names like Margaret Atwood, Sally Rooney, Dona Tartt, and Angela Carter, but many by Japanese, Korean, and Chinese writers—a real feast for Asian literature lovers. Searching for today’s big names like Sayaka Murata, Mieko Kawakami, Bora Chung, and Yiyun Li? Or perhaps you’re waiting to discover lesser-known yet equally valuable reads? Whatever the preference, you’ll definitely find something here.
The Libro Hunter
Keep your Instagram alerts on for The Libro Hunter (@thelibrohunter), an online bookseller based in Iloilo City. The shop posts sporadically, but when it does have a book upload, it boasts an incredible lineup of titles that aren’t to be missed.
These include books from cult favorite publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions, as well as other elusive titles from the literary world’s greatest—Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, Anne Carson, Ken Liu, Joan Didion, Zadie Smith, the list goes on. Like other bookstores in the list, The Libro Hunter keeps up with today’s rising stars, offering titles from major literary prize-winners.
Bookulaw
Bookulaw doesn’t often have book uploads as well, but if you’re in search of really interesting reads from authors you may have never heard of, this is the place to check out.
The shop’s collections are largely composed of books from publisher New York Review Books (nyrb), which gathers the works of thinkers and writers around the globe—some big, others more obscure—then publishes them in alluring (and recognizable) paperbacks. Besides the nyrb titles, Bookulaw also offers a lineup of books you won’t find at your usual brick-and-mortar in the country, which makes every upload a really special one.
