I love reading. Whether its books, magazines, newspapers, even brochures, I just love to read. Some books I will download, but I do prefer to get my hands on a proper book, one that’s made of paper. A real book you can keep and pass around to friends, family, or donate to a book fair, so that someone else can enjoy it too. My kids are passionate about books, and with both of them learning to read, it is so important they are exposed to a wide range of reading material, picture books, and information books. My son’s favorite books are the Usborne “See Inside” series, and his growing collection already includes Your Body, Planet Earth, Inventions, and Pirate Ships. Beijing has a number of bookstores to choose from, including Page One, The Bookworm, and Beijing Star Kids Children’s Bookstore, but not every title is available, and you pay a premium price. That’s why online bookstores are so appealing, and for me you can’t beat Wordery.com.
Founded in 2012, Wordery is one of the world’s fastest growing independent book sellers. They have a great reputation as a fast, competitively priced seller of a huge range of books, with over 7 million titles available. What’s more, they offer free world wide delivery on every single book. Wordery has a rapidly growing catalogue of book titles, including a wide selection of UK and internationally published books. They have books in hundreds of languages, listed under thousands of categories, including children’s, fiction and non-fiction, food and drink, travel, and study guides. They stock all the bestsellers, new releases, and story-time classics, so whatever book you are looking for, you’re bound to find it on their website.
The direct-to-consumer website is a partnership between book wholesaler Bertrams and former Book Depository IT director Will Jones. They currently deliver to customers in over 100 countries. Wordery sells some titles at a discount of nearly 40%, sometimes beating Amazon prices by up to 10%. They originally traded as a third-party retailer, on UK sites such as Amazon and eBay, before steeping out on their own.
I have consistently received a fantastic service from them. Last year I ordered a large number of books to be delivered to Beijing in time for Christmas, and I did the same again for both my kid’s Birthdays this year. I also encourage their grandparents to order from the site, and on its way to us right now is The Elf on The Shelf by Carol Aebersold. For those unfamiliar with Elf, it’s a cleverly rhymed children’s book that explains how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice. It’s a wonderful book which creates a great game of hide-and-seek, getting the whole family into the festive spirit. I have also used Wordery for ordering books as gifts, for friends and family back home. They provide a free gift messaging service, so you can send your gift straight to your recipient with a personalized message.
Delivery is free and delivery time to China is 7-14 days, although it tends to be closer to the 14 days. Most books are packaged and sent individually, which helps get them through customs in one piece, and I’ve never had one go astray. Prices on the website are displayed in five different currencies GBP £, USD $, EUR €, AUD $, and CAD $. Payment options include MasterCard credit or debit cards, Visa credit or debit cards, Solo, Maestro, American Express, or PayPal. If you are ordering a lot of books in one go, they have a handy bulk ordering tool, where you copy and paste the list of ISBNs into a box on the basket page. To start shopping visit www.wordery.com and check out their facebook page www.facebook.com/wordery.your.online.bookshop
beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.
Photos: Tim Geers, Martin Pettitt, Christa (Flickr)
