Eslite (誠品) claims that its store on Renai is still larger. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/02/04/2003097441 I like Page One’s layout, but they still suck when it comes to carrying popular novels. They didn’t have a single book I was looking for 
Yapipi: Oh, Eslite is definitely bigger than Page One in terms of area. But when it comes to English books… I definitely prefer Page One.
With regards popular novels, the filing system is a little haphazard. There are assorted popular novels near the entrance, but that’s not all. If you wanted crime, travel, science fiction/fantasy or romance, there are dedicated shelves much farther in. I was disappointed at first when I couldn’t find what I wanted near the entrance.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Page One didn’t carry what you wanted.
[quote]With regards popular novels, the filing system is a little haphazard. There are assorted popular novels near the entrance, but that’s not all. If you wanted crime, travel, science fiction/fantasy or romance, there are dedicated shelves much farther in. I was disappointed at first when I couldn’t find what I wanted near the entrance.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Page One didn’t carry what you wanted.
[/quote]
Better than eslite, where you have to find American literature, then British literature, then there’s French literature over here, and ‘world literature’ tucked away somewhere else, and you’re thinking “I think the author’s Australian, now where could it be”. I remember in New Zealand it was usual to have the same sort of categories as Page One - General Fiction, Popular Fiction, Scifi/Fantasy, Romance.
Brian
Negatives: the music! Wouldn’t be so bad if I only heard it once through, but they play the same damn tape over and over again. Not good if you want to read “War and Peace” in the store without paying.
And the benches! One’s concave, one’s convex. Makes both uncomfortable to sit on for long periods (guess that’s what they wanted, huh!) or fit two people onto one bench, unless they’re very good friends! The cubbyhole off the the side looks more comfortable, I’ll have to try that.
An article in the paper said they had American comic books, but I’ve never found any, either in magazine or trade paperback form. Anybody have more luck than me?
Now why do you think they carry so many English-language spiritualism / occult books? As much as Christianity, shelfwise, but can there be that much demand here? (It’s soooo 1980’s!)
I saw them. Can’t remeber exactly what. Sort of the opposite corner from the front door.
Brian
Screaming Jesus:
There is only 1 shelf of comic books, and they mean graphic novels not the monthly comics. It’s near the animals section, between cookery and kids.
They had Maus and Kabuki and Sandman.
I love this place. I am on the verge of having a breakdown whenever I go there as I have had such meager English book selection for so long. I had to go in and just look around 3 times before I could actually spend any meaningful time in the sections. Then when I finally could look without being so excited that I had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes, I still had to go to the bathroom and then could only look and buy from the best seller section. I will try again tonight…I spent way too much money there the last time I went.
My only gripe is that they have no membership for discounts no matter how much money you spend. I bet that will change one day. They do have a bestseller area with discounts though.
Here is the number if anyone needs to check on a book before they go: (02) 8101-8282
By the way, I still like http://www.yesasia.com since they deliver to Taiwan for free, there is no import tax on books for personal use in Taiwan and they have big discounts on many books.
I found two copies of Boswell’s Life of Johnson…and then I found the unabridged version! 
I need no longer whinge about book stores in Taiwan.
Wet dream for solitary confinement, innit?
Watch out! Remember how bloody expensive it is to surface mail those babies.
[quote=“Alien”]Wet dream for solitary confinement, innit?
Watch out! Remember how bloody expensive it is to surface mail those babies.[/quote]
Add an “S” to the nation’s official name: Republic Of Solitary Confinement?
Hobart: I beg to differ on yesasia.com. I did enjoy free shipping last year, but the last time I ordered anything from them (around Feb, before visiting Page One) they charged me something like US$7 in shipping costs for 4 paperbacks. That’s not really much compared to Amazon.com but it’s still a lot more than free. I also ordered one DVD which was shipped free though.
If you look at yesasia’s site on shipping costs:
global.yesasia.com/help/index.asp?t=3.1&lang=en
It is stated that ‘all products on yesasia.com’ qualify for free shipping. Below it, however - that’s how yesasia’s support team explained it - there is a big cross next to English books, so they don’t qualify for free shipping.
Yesasia also claims they offer a discount off the publisher’s price. This is NOT a discount. If you look at the prices for the same books at Amazon however Amazon’s prices are way lower, because they don’t use the publisher’s price in calculating discounts. Yesasia still wins out because Amazon charges so much for shipping that it cancels out the discount.
Now that there’s Page One, I’d rather go browse and will only order from yesasia if I truly cannot find it at PO.
And yes, I wish they would offer a VIP/discount card too. I like Eslite’s 10% off but it’s just easier to go to PO and buy everything there rather than hop from one store to another.
I didn’t know what qualified and what didn’t qualify for free shipping at Yesasia.com I think the best deal if there are book s that you are not in a hurry for is to order the books via Amazon and ship them to your home address in the USA/UK/Cananda etc. with free shipping then bring them back to Taiwan when you return. I always do this at Christmas, but then I also purchase way too many books from Page One.
Any change on PageOne’s VIP discount plan? Anything? What about if you have the Taipei101 Platinum Visa or something like that? Still nothing?
Just checked on Yesasia.com again and it seems that there is not instance of free shipping of English books to Taiwan any longer. That sucks, but then PageOne rocks! Still would like to save some money. I spend a lot on books.
Maybe I should have posted in this thread also - they’re offering a discount card now, but it’s very limited - see here:
[Page One Bookstore card 1/7 - 31/7
For the person who asked about comics, Page One has the best selection of graphic novels and trade paperbacks in Taiwan (though a store like Banana is better for individual issues). When they first opened, the section was somewhat more spread out and the selection better. The section has since shrunk along with the selection, but there are still many hundreds to choose from including classics by Kirby, Moore, and others. The prices are quite reasonable. It’s not organized at all, though.
Do they have old graphic novels like “Ed the Happy Clown”?
I’m not sure about that title, Wolf. But they do have Kirby’s collected Fourth World comics, which are around 30 years old, as well as assorted collections of vintage Hulk, Spiderman and other titles. They also carry some of the classics from the 80’s, like Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Dark Knight Returns, etc.
Anyone got any Archie comics?
Gubo, where are they? (Graphic novels) I only found one, and it was in the “Iranian history” section.
I’m being serious. :help: