Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A cozy nook and a good book

"oh, for a cozy nook and a good book...."

I was walking along in Aundh, Pune yesterday, searching for something, when I chanced upon "twistntales"...and I fell in love.

This is a cozy book store in gaikwad nagar aundh.

The store is almost perfect.

The entry is covered by a canopy, and below this canopy is a seating cum playing area.
But what really thrills, is once you enter the shop.
While the shop itself is pretty cozy, they have made fantastic utilizaion of sapce. The books are arranged on wooden book stands that zig-zag all round the shop.




This makes for easy acessibility of books.
Also the books are arranged in no-nonsense categories and best of all the books are stacked in the category they actually belong to, unlike some big brand book store chains I have visited.

Since space is a luxury, they dont have the biggest collection of books, but it does have a fantastic collection. It stocks all the old and new best-sellers and all the new books in the market.

Plus its collection strikes you with its diversity, It has books not only in fiction, non-fiction india, management,et but it has a good collection of humour, which I found sorely lacking in the other big book store I frequent.

They also have this board where they put up cut-outs of book reviews from different newspapers, magazines, the net, must-read booklists etc. Awesome!

But what sets twistntales in a class of its own is the service.

The employees of this bookstore are young college students who are working part-time.
Now, what makes them exceptional, is that they are very well read, and have great knowledge not just about books in general but also thorough knowledge about their collection...which sadly you dont find in other places.

Since the employees are well read, they are also able to make recommendations in a genre of your choice.
Thus not only do they make it a pleasure to shop, but also if you listen closely and pay attention, you get some awesome book recemendations.
The employees actually discuss books while waiting on you, so you get a "walking-talking" book review.
It really is a pleasure to see quality book store employees. For years I have fretted about how the calibur of book store employees just doesnt cut it. For starters they lack what i think should be a pre-requisite, a love for books.

And I saw that spark here. I am pleased.

And I think I showed it.

I grinned from ear to ear when i was asked if i would liked to be mailed the weekly book reviews they do. I mean this place had genuine class.

And they gave me a bookmark too. :-) And a paper bag for the book I bought.
I have always thought that book stores should do this. And somebody is!!!!

And it didnt hurt that i found a fantastic book while I was there.

"The city of dreaming books" by Walter mores.

Its a book for all book lovers. But more on that later.

This was just my ode to the perfect cozy nook of a book shop.

If you are in pune, you have to visit it. Dive into this magical kingdom of books and book lovers.


twistntales
Yourneighbourhoodbookstore.

Contact Details of Twistntales
Address
Shop No1 Siddarth, Gaikwad Nagar, Aundh,
Pune-411007
Phone No
25881465

Time:10.30 To 20.30 Monday Closed.

Subscribe:twistntales@yahoogroups.com

Email:contact@twistntales.com

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