Cyprus-Forum.com

[Crivens]

Ok, so I have just moved to Limassol and basically love books. I've found a bookshop near one of the StarBucks (behind M&S) and another near Carfore. Now both are pretty nice, but very small.

I've also heard about a second hand book store called Marilyns, but I'm not sure where that is. Is it any good? Although I mainly want to know where there is a decent sized bookshop that does a decent range of brand new English titles. Limassol would be nice, but anywhere would be good.

Failing that, any online bookshops that are any good? I looked at Play and their choice was ok, but even though they said they deliver to Cyprus it turns out once you get to the checkout that they can't deliver outside the UK. Amazon has a brilliant choice of books but the delivery costs are stupid. And don't even suggest E-Books. I've tried it on my PDA and reading from a small electronic device sucks big style (and I'm a programmer by profession). Plus have you seen the cost? Much like iTunes you can buy the real thing from a shop for about the same price or cheaper. It's better quality and comes with better presentation.

Oh, and I haven't asked yet, but do any of the smaller shops order English books for you? In the UK if they didn't have a book I could order a book from them (and pay an extra 50p) and they would get it in within a couple of weeks. Does anywhere do this?

Cheers

[twinkle]

Don't forget the shop just behind Debenhams on the beach road. I think its called Anne's or something. They have a large selection and buy and swap books.
Play.com will deliver to Cyprus (free of charge) you need to use the International site and pay in Euros.
Amazon charges delivery.
Academic Bookshop in Larnaca is great. They have a reading room and book club which reviews and chats about books every month.

Hope that helps.

[reportfromcyprus]

There are a couple in Nicosia - Moufflon and Solonion bookstores, their number is in directory inquiries.

[Crivens]

Thanks for that.

As for play.com, if I choose international they only offer DVDs. If there is one thing about Cyprus it's that DVDs are seriously cheap (rather weak on upholding copyright laws basically...). But I can't see how to select books. The UK site has books and actually says they deliver books, DVDs, and CDs, but not electronic items, to Cyprus. But when you get to the final stage it shows "This item cannot be delivered outside the UK" against each item. I thought it was just the PlayTrade items (which also say they can deliver to Cyprus), but I tried choosing one single book marked as Play.Com only (not PlayTrade), and that still said they won't deliver outside the UK.

Cheers

[Crivens]

Ah, just found out that if you stay on the UK site (don't go to international) of Play.com, then you can get books, but it will say it can't deliver to Cyprus when you checkout. Until you select Euro instead of Pounds and then everything works. Ordered fine, so will see how long they take to arrive. Thanks for that one.

Out of interest do you normally have to pay import charges for this sort of thing? I mean I will probably never order a parcel of books over £100GBP, but do you get charged for say a £25GBP package of books (about 4 paperbacks say), and if so how much?

Cheers

[andri_cy]

I believe anything under 200 CYP there are no fees.

[twinkle]

If you order from another EU country ie the UK, there are no charges. Play.com do not charge for delievery and most items are just collected from the post office. Remember to use their International site and pay in Euros then there is no problem. Delivery usually takes about 10 days if in stock. They are a great company.