Mzanzitravel Magazine

Culture
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their doorstep. But it survived and the bookshop is as popular as ever. Regular
events and book launches are hosted, with one of their most recent ones being
the local launch of journalist Jacques Pauw’s headline-making The President’s
Keepers, a shocking exposé of political deceit and corruption in contemporary
South Africa.
Plonk yourself down in one of the comfortable couches, browse through some
books, or enjoy the occasional in-store concert, while taking in the view outside
of the tourist-crammed street, the busy little fishing harbour and the beautiful bay.
Durban
Durban too has its share of wonderful bookstores. One of the oldest, if not the
oldest, is Adams Booksellers & Stationers, started as Adams and Company in
1865 to serve the stationery, magazine and book needs of the colonial community.
Today the company has two stores, one in central West Street that specialises in
books for UNISA students and nurses while maintaining a good general range,
and the other in the upmarket Musgrave Centre. They also have two shops serving
students on the two campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as shop
in Pietermaritzburg in the heart of the city in a beautiful historic building.
Other popular independent bookshops in Cape Town include Tommy’s Book
Exchange, located on central Long Street since 1969 with lots of dusty books
and even old long-playing music records stacked from floor to ceiling and in every
nook and cranny; The Readers Den Comic Shop, located in the bustling Stadium
on Main in Claremont, home to just about every popular comic series that ever
existed; the charming little Select Books on Long Street, where it has been for
three decades selling Africana, books on the Anglo-Boer War, flora and fauna,
travel, hunting, art, and sport, as well as rare out-of-print books; and the unlikelynamed
Bikini Beach Bookstore on the beach at Gordon’s Bay, overflowing with
books of every title and description.
There are plenty more independent little bookshops like Fortunate Finds Bookshop
on Main Road, Kenilworth; the Quagga Shop, also on Main Road, Kalk Bay;
Buchhandlung Naumann on Kloof Nek Road, and catering to German speakers
and those interested in German culture; A is for Apple, based in Tamboerskloof
and specialising in children’s books; The Bay Bookshop, which has a branch
in Hout Bay and another in the Cape Quarter, Green Point; the charity CAFDA
Bookshop with stores in Sea Point and Cavendish Square, Claremont, that
through its proceeds helps uplift disadvantaged communities on the Cape Flats;
The Book Shoppe, a tiny second-hand book shop in Tokai; and a little further afield
in the lovely Franschhoek wine valley, The Armchair Explorer, filled with books on
history, and African and European military history.
Still in Cape Town, a visit to the Centre for the Book, a branch of the National
Library of South Africa, is a must. Its mission is to promote a culture of reading,
writing and publishing in local languages and easy access to books for all. It
coordinates book related activities nationally, such as book discussions, poetry
readings, book launches, writing workshops and conferences and also houses a
Children’s Reading Centre in partnership with Ukuhamba Nabatwana Trust. The
Centre for the Book is housed in a historic Edwardian building at 62 Queen Victoria
Street, Cape Town.
Ike’s Bookshop on 4th Road in central Durban is another amazing little bookstore –
some would say a hidden gem – that stocks old and new books on a great variety of
topics. Last Chance Books, at the Stables Lifestyle Market in Durban, offer around
4,000 titles for sale, while they also have an extensive private collection that can
be viewed by appointment and includes historical titles, limited, signed, and first
editions by authors such as Ian Fleming, Wilbur Smith, J.M. Coetzee and many
more. Other Durban bookshops include Books & Books, Books at Kensington, and
Kensington Book Exchange in Kensington Square, Durban North.
Other Cities
In Moreleta Park, Pretoria you will find Esanlu Book Shop with close to 16,000
books in English and Afrikaans, including rare and collectible books, first editions,
and new paperbacks and hardcovers. Like Cape Town, the city has a store
specialising in comic books, called Outer Limits and located in Menlo Park. The
shop regularly hosts card and board games too. In Nieuw Muckleneuk you’ll find
the PCH Bookshop, run entirely by volunteers selling second-hand books to raise
funds for the Princess Christian Home.
Rutland Books on Soutpansberg Road consists of 13 rooms containing over
50,000 second-hand books. Tall Stories is located in the Irene Village Mall in
Centurion, and offers Africana, publisher’s overstocks, collectibles, and secondhand
books. They would also love to buy your unwanted books. In Lynwood Glen
you’ll find what is reputed to be one of the top five second-hand bookshops in South
Africa, namely Sungardens Hospice Bookshop. Books donated by the public are
sold here to raise funds for the care of patients with progressive, advanced or
incurable diseases.
In Pietermaritzburg you’ll also find Sesifikile Booksellers on Longmarket Street,
Ladybeam Secondhand Books on Boom Street, Rehab Books & Technology on
Ridge Road, and CUM Books in the Midlands Mall, among more.
In Bloemfontein (Mangaung) you can pop into Protea Book Store in the Brandwag