Online Book Shopping at #Bookle

A couple of weeks back, Snubnose got the most wonderful surprise, just a couple of days before her birthday.

She had hurt her leg pretty badly falling off her cycle and was sitting at home moping about how her hurt left leg wouldn’t allow her to dance at her birthday party coming on the weekend.

Just when I was beginning to get exasperated with her theatrics, the bell rang.

It was a postal worker with a parcel in hand. And it was so amusing to see how quickly Snubnose hobbled on one good leg to tear open what she was sure was a parcel for her.

And so it was.

It was a parcel from Bookle. I had a voucher from them which I used up to get her an advance birthday gift.

So What is Bookle?

It’s the newest online book store on the block. The only thing is this one is just for kids. It’s also a used book store, which I think is a great idea. I hate spending so much moolah on books for the kids, when their reading is still in the experimental stage.

For example, I’d love to gift a copy of Little Women to my daughter. But I don’t know yet if she”ll really take to it, and so a slightly used book works so much better for us.

We normally do our second-hand book shopping at Blossoms Book House, which is a wonderful experience, but it is also really far from our house, with terrible parking, and going there on a weekend is just more hassle then it’s worth.

So online it is, and Bookle it is.

The Bookle Book-buying Experience

The Bookle site is simple and easy to navigate. The search toolbar is front and center so you can straight away enter your requirements, hit enter, and you are on the way.

But the browsing experience is the fun part, and the deals are stupendous.

We picked up two Rainbow Magic books, one Winnie the Pooh book (for Piglet), and one beautiful hardcover of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis.

The package came promptly within the next two days.

For second-hand books, the quality is pretty good. Snubnose was perfectly satisfied with all her books.

I was particularly impressed by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was beautifully printed and the quality of the book was perfect considering the price. Brand new, this book would have set me back at least Rs.500/-.

I was also impressed by how honestly they describe the condition of the books on the website. All the used books come with a note indicating its condition – whether its excellent, scribbled on, dog-eared, and so on.

I loved our first batch of books so much that I am already eyeing more books to buy for Snubnose.

Here are some books I am eyeing at the moment:

• The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan – A deal at just Rs.99/- bucks
• The Vile Victorians by Terry Deary – only Rs.49/-
• My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson – again just Rs.49/- only

The nicest part of the entire Bookle experience is that if you find the books don’t work out for some reason, you can sell the book back to them via their Bookle Repurchase Program.

A great idea to reduce bookish clutter around the house.

Overall Thoughts

I thought Bookle was a fantastic idea. Currently, their stock isn’t massive, but I can see the potential in this venture. And I love the heart behind it.

Any business that facilitates children’s abilities to read and develop their imaginations and their vocabularies is a good thing in my book.

Highly recommend!