TBR (To Be Read): Why I always visit a local indie bookstore on my travels
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A bookstore like Kubrick in Yau Ma Tei allows the traveller to find his bearings and study the mental landscape of a city.
ST PHOTO: SHAWN HOO
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HONG KONG – When home-grown publisher Epigram Books announced the impending closure of its bookstore at the Singapore Art Museum
Among the teetering book towers and crammed shelves: historical tomes on Hong Kong, Macau and China; Buddhist texts; titles by a defunct Singapore publisher; and a book on Hong Kong Basic Law.
An hour here taught me what a museum or a tour to a local attraction could not. It gave me an eclectic glimpse into what was on Hong Kongers’ minds and the books they were seeking out to answer the questions they harboured.
In a second-hand bookstore, the mind naturally wanders to the personal history of the object in one’s hand – who it once belonged to and how it got here. Collectively, a bookstore is an incomplete history of a city’s intellectual life.
I always plan a visit to a local independent bookstore early into my travels to find my bearings and pick up a book related to the place. A city without bookstores is a nightmare for a traveller like me – it is like visiting a city without maps.
Even in a store for new books, one can study the mental landscape of a city. In Kubrick, housed next to a Yau Ma Tei art-house cinematheque, I browsed shelves of translated literature. I wondered about the writers who have passed through this cultural institution.
The teetering book towers and crammed shelves in second-hand nook Lily Bookshop in Sheung Wan is a glimpse into the mental life of Hong Kong’s readers.
ST PHOTO: SHAWN HOO
Jisaam Books, which was recommended by a writer who grew up in Hong Kong, provided relief from Mong Kok’s bustle. Bookstores transport the reader into another city – they leaven the texture of urban life for residents and travellers.
Even the more than 40 independent bookstores which have closed since 2020 tell a story about Hong Kong. Covid-19 pandemic woes and censorship fears after the introduction of a national security law have made the book trade more challenging.
But as long as there are independent bookstores – the literary landmarks of any city – it is a good day for any traveller. I count among my favourite bookstores worldwide: Lit Books in Kuala Lumpur, Poetry In Life in Taipei, Sinan Books in Shanghai and Judd Books in London.
The quiet Jisaam Books provides relief from the bustle of Mong Kok.
ST PHOTO: SHAWN HOO
Friends who visit Singapore often ask me to recommend one independent bookstore to visit in between Gardens by the Bay and hawker centres.
In 2017, I would have said BooksActually, then located in Yong Siak Street. An American friend who visited spun a whole thesis out of a book – In Transit: An Anthology From Singapore On Airports And Air Travel (2016) – he had bought there, much to my delight.
In 2020, my recommendation was Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop in Maxwell Road – which opened in 2019 before its latest incarnation at its current location, which will close in January 2025.
In 2024, my indie bookstore pick is the one-year-old Book Bar in Duxton Road – where I recently took a group of visiting journalists.
What will my answer be in 2030? I wonder about this as the age of bookstores in Singapore seems to dim. Or will I be content to admit that I live in a country missing a literary landmark?
