We have book reviews, gadget reviews, and game reviews, but what about a bookstore review?

I will only cover the four main bookstores in Malaysia: Popular, MPH, Borders, and Kinokuniya.

To make things much simpler, I will go through them according to categories.

Surroundings and settings

MPH and Borders provide great seating opportunities, but Borders comes out. Popular, sadly, is rather sparse while Kinokuniya is abit packed and crowded, thus less space for comfortable browsing.

Pricing

Popular comes out tops in this aspect. Factor in member card discounts, promotions, low base pricing, and Popular’s books are a good 20 to 30% cheaper. MPH and Borders are equally placed, but Kinokuniya is real blood sucker. A RM 40 book on amazon (excluding shipping fees) cost me RM 80 when i ordered it from Kinokuniya.

Condition of Books

While Kinokuniya costs a bomb, all their books are wrapped and in a perfect condition. Swarms of workers fill the place, ever willing to unwrap the books immediately. MPH’s costlier books are wrapped too (though not all), but Borders and Popular have much space for improvement. Walk into their stores and you will find many sad cases of damaged book spines, folded book covers and various pre-sale defects.

Availability of books

Kinokuniya boasts of having the biggest bookstore in Malaysia, and naturally they come in tops in this category. Many titles are available and the ordering system is quick and does not require cumbersome deposits. (It “scammed” my feelings recently when a book that it claimed would arrive in 2 weeks took double the time.) Borders has a comprehensive ordering system too, although the waiting period is much longer. Meanwhile MPH’s book availability is acceptable, with an emphasized niche in external higher level reference books. Popular is downright suitable only for the hottest bestsellers, period.

Overall Verdict

Popular offers the best pricing although finding books you want will be quite a chore. Borders is a great place for grabbing a book and hogging the couch there the whole day. MPH comes out without much distinctive flair, while for those with  an addiction towards great customer service and paying more than you should, Kinokuniya beats them all.