Book shop in jakarta

Hello there,

Anyone can help with second hand bookshop (especially english books) around jakarta ??
If not second hand pls give info about english book shop in jakarta preferrably west jakarta area

Thanks,

Did you look on Jl Jaksa? There are usually some English second-hand bookshops there...

Maaf, don't know about 2nd hand book shops, but I know two good book shops in Kemang/JKT Selatan, they have lots of books. Otherwise, Gramedia is kind of specialised in English books (imported).

aksara bookstore in kemang has a (very limited and not that cheap anyway) selection of second-hand english books.
west jakarta is a bit hard. as far as i can remember there's Gunung Agung bookstore in Taman Anggrek mall, it has some english books. the closest (and best option) is head to Plaza Senayan, not that far from west jakarta. there's a huge Kinokuniya on the 5th floor.

Second hand books aplenty on Jalan Jaksa. Memories Cafe has a good selection, though prices they ask are a little steep for battered paperbacks. Kinokuniya in Plaza Senayan (5th floor in the Sogo department store) has a massive selection of English Language books at fairly average international prices). I believe there is also QB World Books in Kemang (I've driven past it but never gone in).

JKT has a Kinokuniya now???
What's the World coming to!

As #4, Kinokuniya is my favourite. Lazlo, not only is that odd, but the really odd thing is that this Japanese shop is the best English language bookshop in town. It has a good collection of travel guides.
In the Thamrin area QB in the street immediately south of Sarinah Thamrin department store is good, and there is a nice noodle place upstairs.
Most places are in central and south Jkt, not the west.
No idea on s/hand.

Kinokuniya in Plaza Indonesia too.

Ok, Thanks for the info, I'll try and start wandering this weekend....
Been to that Kinokuniya at Plaza senayan but was not that impressive and couldn't find the taste of book I'm looking for.
Will try Jalan Jaksa as first option

Try Pasar Buku Senen ;-). I think it's famous enough for second hand and fake book.

#8 It may help if you tell us the kind of book you are looking for. Kinokuniya and QB and Aksara (sp?) have the biggest general choices.

The weird thing about Kinokuniya spreading in JKT is that unlike in Singapore, in Jakarta the number of potential buyers of English-language books must be relatively limited.
Or are they selling Indonesian books there for the most part?

Even in Surabaya which surely has a seriously limited supply of readers of English there is a slowly growing number of English language bookshops, almost exclusively Periplus - the one I usually go to seems to do a pretty brisk trade with upper-middle class Chinese Indonesians - I'm never sure whether they can really speak English though, or whether it's just a status thing...

#11 Mostly English and Japanese, only a small section of Indonesian books as far as I remember. The best Indonesian shops (Gunung Agung, Gramedia, etc.) don't have much in English (apart from English language courses etc.) and the foreign bookshops don't have much in B.I., in my experience anyway.
A lot of middle class Indonesians buy books in English because, I assume, not so many books are translated into Indonesian, especially non-fiction and the more serious novels. When I go to QB or Kinokuniya there usualy are more Indonesian than western customers (though some of those apparent "Indonesians" may be Philippino, Thai, etc.). I know some Indonesians (especially ethnic Chinese, educated overseas) who seem as or more comfortable speaking English than B.I.

There are also probably several 10's of thousands of westerners in Jakarta, the majority English speaking, but that only amounts to a small town's worth of people, a population which would probably not have a book bookshop in the UK whereas there are perhaps 10 in Jakarta.

qb is goin down the swanny. the one opposite sarinah died a while back i think

i go to kino myself although periplus at the airport and kemang villa has a good choice sometimes

I like history books also biography, what I saw on Kinokuniya at plaza senayan mostly novel or children book, but i was there only once and didn't really wander well. But that first impression made me think that its just so so.
Periplus at airport is better but often when i go to airport always in a rush to catch my flight... ha ha...
I also went to the one at Pasaraya Grande, I dont remember what the name, its on upper floor, but still I couldnt find my book.

are u kidding. Kino would have 100 x more books than Periplus at the airport

At Periplus I found one book about buddhism that i've been looking, while I couldn't find any book match my interest at Kino, so yes, Periplus is better then Kino (For me)

Actually, despite being very small, the Periplus stores do seem to carry a very decent range of History and culture books with an emphasis on Indonesia and SE Asia, including some rather obscure academic titles. But Kinokuniya in Plaza Senayan has a pretty decent selection of general history, much as you would find in a similar large bookstore anywhere in the world.

#15 Like Radson I am amazed that you found Kino had less than Periplus at the airport. I would guess that the religion section alone at Kino is about as big as Periplus (unless there is a new Periplus since mid 2006 which I have not seen?).
Are you sure you were in Kino and not the small bookshop nearby in Plaza Senayan?
"mostly novel or children book" Fiction and children's stuff is mostly near the main door but there large non-fiction sections off to the right, and mostly Japanese books (and the kids stuff?) to the left. I am in the UK and that Kino branch is as big as most bookshops I know here outside London and the big cities.

Yes I am sure its Kino, I remember It was a big bookshop. Not a small one.
I will re check kino again cos as I said I didn't really wander around that bookshop well.
heard there are some cafes on south jakarta that also library where you can borrow book.
Anyone been there ? Can you suggest any place ?? Is it a wide collection ?? are there history or biography books?

Thanks alot for kind help.

My first choice would be the cafes in Jl Jaksa, as they are a swapping place for tourists; the owners have a very good mark-up though, and often the 2nd hand books cost more than they would new back home.

Periplus and Oxford In Asia are a great series, as they are all historical.

Whenever I had a 'visa trip' to Singapore, I would take over the bare minimum of baggage, and bring back loads of 2nd hand books from downtown (not Orchard Rd). Not only books, but my next six month's worth or Vegemite and meusli!