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Bookstores in the Netherlands? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Bookstores |  | |
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6249 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes  Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 1 of 6 30 September 2007 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've found a list of bookstores in the Netherlands, on Wikipedia. However, there seems to be relatively little information about many of them online, with the possible exception of athenaeum boekhandel, and there are many special purpose bookstores which aren't on this list (such as http://www.intermale.nl/, http://www.frontierbookshop.nl/, and http://www.isis-books.nl/, to mention the first three which I found).
For those who are familiar with bookstores in the Netherlands, especially but not only in Amsterdam: which bookstores have you used? What are your impressions? Do you know any places which sell second hand books or audio books? Do bookstores tend to be open on the weekends? Edited by Volte on 30 September 2007 at 6:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furyou_gaijin Senior Member Japan Joined 6196 days ago 540 posts - 631 votes Speaks: Latin* | Message 2 of 6 01 October 2007 at 4:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Athenaeum is the best for specialised literature, including linguistics. Scheltema is the biggest and is located within 400 yards of Athenaeum. De Slegte is the best for second-hand books and what they call 'de ramsj' - it's a 5 min walk from Athenaeum but in the opposite direction from Scheltema... There are smaller second-hand bookshops on the 'grachten' but the above three should do nicely.
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| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6700 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 3 of 6 02 October 2007 at 3:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I tend to use either Waterstones in Amsterdam (not a Dutch company but a good enough source for English-language books) and the various branches of Selexyz (or however that's actually spelt). The Athenaeum is good for language books but is somewhat pricey and I agree with Furyou Gaijin that De Slegte is the best place for second-hand books. There's a fairly large branch in Amsterdam that's worth a look.
I used to recommend the American Book Centre to friends but that place has gone downhill in recent months ever since it moved to its new location on Spui. I find the new store harder to navigate and the selection doesn't seem to be as good as before. Books, especially English-language ones, are generally quite pricey in the Netherlands and I often find it cheaper to just order things from Amazon.Co.Uk. While my Dutch is not too shabby, I don't really like reading novels or non-fiction in Dutch, especially when I know that the English original can be bought online for half the price of the Dutch translation. As for opening times, there are very few stores open on Sundays (at least where I live). Since most (if not all) stores are closed by the time I finish work, I just find myself buying new books in bulk when I go visit family in the UK. I rarely buy books in the Netherlands any more. Too expensive and not much selection.. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furyou_gaijin Senior Member Japan Joined 6196 days ago 540 posts - 631 votes Speaks: Latin* | Message 4 of 6 02 October 2007 at 5:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I thought Volte was after Dutch-language books?
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| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6249 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 5 of 6 03 October 2007 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, I am; I have quite a few sources of English-language books, and Italian/French/German ones are common where I live (and Spanish and Russian aren't entirely rare sights either, though I'm not pursuing either language). However, there are rather few Dutch books available in my little town, as far as I can tell: I can't actually recall having seen any. Thanks to both of you for your advice. Now I just need to figure out if the shops are open on Saturdays, as that's the only day of the week I could 'easily' be in the Netherlands. Edited by Volte on 03 October 2007 at 3:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furyou_gaijin Senior Member Japan Joined 6196 days ago 540 posts - 631 votes Speaks: Latin* | Message 6 of 6 03 October 2007 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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All the 3 shops that I mentioned are open on Saturdays and on Sundays... The country is changing for the better,
you know... :-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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