Ditch The Kindle And Shop At These Book Stores In Pune

Located on East Street in Camp, Express Book Service is a heritage bookstore, which are hard to find these days. This store, though, has been around since the colonial-era, when Pune was Poona. The store started in 1940s and was set up by the current owner Rohit Jerajani’s great-grandfather. Back then, this shop even hosted an illustrious client roster of important political figures like Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lokmanya Tilak, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

You’ll find all authors you'd love to and want to read. Think: Agatha Christie, V.S. Naipaul, and even the modern-day trendy ones like Murakami, Khaled Hosseini among others. There are archives of National Geographic (collector’s items), several cookbooks, travel guides, comic books, leather-bound literary classics, books on gardening, precious gems, fiction, religion, self-help, study reference, business, management, health, hobbies, craft books, manuscripts, magazines, and more. If you can't find something you really want, Mr. Jerajani will source for you. Read more on our recommendation here.

Founded in 1974, Pragati Book Center has been around till date. Mr. Dinesh Furia started it as a retail bookshop for academic books. But, by 1976, Mr. Furia ventured into publishing academic guides and notes written by professors and other academics,  which of course, was a hit among Pune's student population. No wonder Pragati earned a trusted name to source textbooks, catalogues and competitive exam guides for streams like IT, engineering, arts, science, commerce, business, pharmacy, management, and UPSC and MPSE exams. Now, Pragati also houses a small selection of children's books, dictionaries, self-help, fiction/non-fiction among other genres.

Located in the basement of Sagar Arcade on FC Road, BookWorld is an old book store, loved by many. Their collection includes everything from literary classics to modern-day comics. Be it fiction, non-fiction, academic titles – you name it and they’ve got it. We've also seen old cookbooks, old editions o magazines like Good Homes, Better Photography, National Geographic, Architectural Digest among others, which start at INR 50 only per copy. 

The owners are always around and ready to help when you want a particular title. The store has first-hand and second-hand copies of books and each is priced aptly.

Off MG Road, located on Bootee Street in Camp, The Word Book Shop is another haven for bookworms. It was set up in 1990 by Mr. Manoj Jain; and specialises in books on art, architecture, design, advertising, and graphics; as well as academic reference books on film and media journalism, sports, health and healing, and some ‘new-age’ books. They have a children’s section with picture-books, encyclopaedias among others. You can also get a subscription for any imported international magazine or journal like Time magazine, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, etc. They are also happy to source particular books for you on request.

The stall has been around for quite some time and the owner tries to collect various titles. What we loved is that none of the books seems tattered or in a poor condition. It's almost as if you're book shopping from a big bookstore. 
You'll find everything from hardcovers to pocket-sized books, first edition prints that are not pirated copies and we spotted some second-hand books as well. Grab copies of 'The art of not giving a fuck' to classics written by Charles Dickens. Who doesn't love a hard-bound copy of classics like David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol? The stall has books across genres. So whether you'd love to pick up a selection of O'Henry's work or Gandhi's autobiography and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Thousand Years of Solitude, you'll find it at this stall.

There are also latest and old magazine issues to choose from. You can score a copies of Lonely Planet for lovely travel pieces or perhaps, dive into a political opinion with a copy of India Today.

Whether you need books for your academic courses or you need them for your leisure reading, Kirti Book Agency has all kinds of books with them. They have got books from the 1st to the 10th grade and spread across boards such as SSC, CBSE, ICSE and IB. You will find a number of books in Hindi, Marathi and other regional languages. The store also has a large collection of classics, suspense, self-help, fiction, historical fiction and other genres. This book store is located in Aundh near BBC towers. 

Read while you sip on a nice cup of coffee at Pagdandi Books Chai Cafe. Located on the Baner-Pashan link road, Pagdandi deals in second-hand books. So there’s a high chance you will find books that have some cute notes scribbled on them. They majorly have a collection of self-help, fiction, poems, short stories, novels, and other kinds of books. Since they are second-hand, you can get these books for a freaking steal.

Located on Bajirao Road in the old city, Akshardhara Book Gallery is one of the most famous book galleries in Pune and is dedicated to promote reading and love for Marathi Literature amongst the masses. The store started off as an exhibition by Ramesh Rathiwadeka in 1994, and has since then created a platform where readers engage with Marathi literature through author meetings, seminars, workshops and of course, books. Akshardhara not only exhibits a vivid collection of Marathi Literature but also organises events like seminars, interviews of renowned Marathi writers, etc. The book store has over 1 lakh books on display, and includes some rare and unique books and special editions too. The collection features books on fiction, novels, biographies, autobiographies, drama, technology, religion, cookery, agriculture, economics, computers, personality development, health, etc.

Saiesh Enterprises is a second-hand book store in Viman Nagar, and is quite popular with the students in the neighborhood. Located on the same street as Udaan Biodiversity Park, this humble store houses a vast collection of second-hand books. The collection includes novels, self-help books, books on poetry, magazines, encyclopedias, comics and much more. They also have an impressive collection of classics and vintage magazines. Along with titles in English, you'll find titles in Hindi, Marathi and few other languages. They also have few old newspapers.

Established in the year 1964, Rasik Sahitya Pvt Ltd in Budhwar Peth is one of the most popular book stores in Pune. Known for their exceptional customer service and impressive collection of books, Rasik Sahitya has a huge collection of Marathi books that includes health care books, children’s books, cartoons, comics, fiction, novels, and much more. 

What better way to spend a boring day than teleporting to a different world? Isn’t that what books do to you? (We know it’s a little dramatic but you know it’s true!) If you are a bibliophile then we are sure at least once in your life you have gone inside a Crossword and spent some time just lost in books. The Crossword at multiple locations across the city has the best collection of books and other stationery.