Secondhand Book Shopping In Colaba Is The Cheapest And Easiest Way To Find Treasure

We took the plunge with this shop owned by Mr Jagdeep Pandey. He has an array of children's fiction books- took us down memory lane. He had ALL our favourite books by Jacqueline Wilson and even Judy Blume. IT was an absolute delight to spot our old favourites around here where we least expected it. Oh, and they have almost all books by Bill Bryson too.

After reminiscing our childhood at Jagdeep Pandey's, this was the second in line, located next to Communications Electronic Store. We spotted a man reading on a stool right there and we happened to learn that he came here every evening post work to get a dose of his favourite classics, and that the place had a personal touch which made it more inviting. We were amazed by their collection of classics, old orange-and-white Penguins classics, thumbed through beautiful editions of Little Women, Franz Kafka, Zorba the Greek, Pride & Prejudice, and lesser known books by Jack London and Edgar Allan Poe. What you will also fin are cool comic books: special edition collections of Calvin & Hobbes, Asterix, and sets of superhero comic collections: Iron Man, X Men, Rick Randon, which are otherwise rare or expensive.

Pro-Tip: The man selling books here pays careful attention to detail and knows on the basis of your choice the kind of books you would like and will show you more in the same category. Let's get ready for a book-predictor, shall we?

Last on this lane before we cross over to the left is Dilip Book Store. They hoard a lot of fiction and a little non-fiction along with coffee-table books. We spotted good copies of popular books like The Fault In Our Stars, The Lee Child, Lose Your Weight by Rujuta Diwekar, Linda Goodman and if you are feeling a little misguided, Chetan Bhagat too. We also glanced upon a beautiful coffee table book named My Love, Budapest {INR 500 approx.}. If to read is to travel without feet, then this sounds perfect. The prices of the books are usually between INR 100-150.

Pro-Tip: If you give it back within a period of time, they pay you 50 per cent of the book price back. If you read and give it back whenever, you get 30 per cent of the cash back {which is a great way to not stock up at home}.

When you cross the road and come to the left, the first shop {towards CST} is Friends Book Stall.

Visit Friends Book Stall for some really interesting coffee table books {on subjects as varied as Paris Theatre and Dharavi's Culture}, dictionaries and even Reader's Digest Encyclopedias. Love reading romance? Get your Nora Roberts and Georgette Heyer fix here. Other finds: Paul Theroux, Naguib Mahfouz, I am Malala, Philip Pullman, Adrian Mole.

Next up, you’ll find a shop by a fellow named Ardesh Yadav. Look for more eclectic books by Ben Okri and Richard Bach {Jonathan Livingston Seagull, anyone?} and books by the snazzy Anuja Chauhan and other comedy-romance writers too.

Pro-Tip: Contact him on +919769784914 before you head here to check for the titles you want, and he will even arrange for titles before you come.

If you haven't shopped for enough books already, let''s walk further.  Apart from secondhand books, Sajjan sells new books at a discount similar or heavier to the links of your online book stores. For example, a new original copy of Jaya’s Mahabharata can be found at only INR 385.

Pro-Tip: You can call him on +917738264757 to check for the titles you want, and he will even arrange for titles before you come.

Fourth in this row, Dinesh's shop proudly displays huge coffee table books and handbooks. Move over your usla Khaled Hosseini and John Grisham titles, we found a slightly more curated collection such as Sophie's World, A Brief History Of Seven Killings and a few books by Nick Hornby. They also house a great collection of cookbooks and travel guides {planning a vacay?}.

Pro-Tip: You can contact him at +91986791852 to check for the titles you want, and he will even arrange for titles before you come.

What if we told you that if you are here, you've hit a jackpot? Yes, indeed. Say hello to the Du Maurier’s lined up, Margaret Atwood’s books and unseen editions of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and also one on our to-read list: A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif. Inside, we found classic gems by less commercially known writers like Paul Gallico, and books such as the Just William! series by Richmal Crompton.

If you grew up reading the Wishing Chair, Malory Towers and other Enid Blyton books, be sure to relive your childhood all over again as they are all available here.

Jaiswal Bookstore is a smaller book stop with a little bit of everything- fiction, non-fiction, statistics books {they had a big collection of these}, textbooks, travel books and guides for when you must wander off on a vacation.

Be wary of the newer books as they might just be replica copies, but their secondhand game is strong as ever. They had a wonderful Warren Buffet hardcover set which we are keeping our eyes on.

Pro-Tip: You can contact the owner at +917666057448  to check for the titles you want, and he will even arrange for titles before you come.

Rajinder, the owner seems to be fond of Sidney Sheldons, Stieg Larsson and Salman Rushdie as these are some of the books found in abundance here. A big fat copy of Vikram Seth’s almost 1,500-page novel Suitable Boy is available here too. {for INR 500 approx.}

Another gem is an original hardbound collection of Thomas Hardy books, which fans should come and grab at once.

We'd say give this place a few minutes of your time. You will find light-hearted humour and comedy in editions of Archies Digest and Betty and Veronica only for INR 30, and laugh at Suppandi’s tales in Tinkle too. If books are the motivation you need for healthy living and eating, look here for many diet, wellness and self-help books too.

Bear in mind that as with the best of secondhand book shops, the collection changes with season and time. Visit the street with a more overall outlook, and with fingers crossed. We’re sure you’ll find treasures unexplored before.