No wonder Malaysians have a poor national average when it comes to reading books, the price of books is prohibitive. If each novel didn’t cost between RM50-60, I’d be reading a lot more too.

Books aren’t like skincare, cosmetics, clothes or something you’d use for a long time. I can finish reading a book within a few days if I really put my mind to it so it seems like a lot to spend on an object that can only gratify me for such a short period.

Like many bookworms, I’m a Popular member but that privilege only gets me a 10% discount on normal days and at most 20% discount on special days for members. It’s the same with Kinokuniya which sometimes gives 20% off on certain books with the purchase of any other item instore.

Along came Book Xcess in Amcorp Mall which sells all kinds of books at the kind of price you will never see in other bookshops. Of course, being a bookshop that only stocks print overrruns, you won’t get every latest novel and chances are you won’t find what you’re looking for but having said that, you may be surprised at what you’ll find sometimes.

I’d been buying from Book Xcess for quite some time now and it’s one of the few reasons for hanging out at Amcorp Mall which I usually wouldn’t spend more than an hour in (but recently I’ve found a boutique which gives me an additional reason to visit Amcorp Mall).

 

Being a fan of Isabel Allende’s books, I’d searched Book Xcess months ago for her latest novel, “Island Beneath The Sea”. This was before Book Xcess moved to its current and bigger location, a few doors down from its previous location on the same floor.

Despite an extensive search, I couldn’t find that novel at Book Xcess so I purchased it on 20% discount from Popular (original price RM59.90). Then, lo and behold, just a few days ago, I found the very same novel at Book Xcess priced at RM19.90 which is less than 50% of what I’d paid even on discount.

If only I hadn’t given in to a whim and waited a bit longer, I could have saved more than RM25! That’s a whopping amount. Luckily, there are other novels which I have made a list of when I spotted them at other bookstores and waited to see if they were available at Book Xcess. This way has saved me quite a lot over the past year.

For diehard bookworms, Book Xcess is definitely worth visiting. They also sell foreign magazines ( a bit outdated) for RM9.90. Book Xcess is the only way I can continue indulging my otherwise costly reading habit.