The Penang Bookshelf
A Schizophrenic Newsletter
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| From The Penang Bookshelf |
Dear Friend
Two Faced? Yes, That's Me
I've
always been a closet crazy mixed up oaf, a two faced squirmer. So
running The Penang Bookshelf's a breeze, having to serve the needs of
customers both within and outside Malaysia. With The Penang Bookshelf's main website in USD, until now you could only buy in Malaysian Ringgit through eBay
or bother yourself by dealing with me direct. So using consumer
friendliness to mask my unbridled greed, I've now set up another website
pinangtreebooks.com where The Penang
Bookshelf's prices are in ringgit. This is now
the sixth website on which The Penang Bookshelf's stock is available.
Ideally I would have preferred one site where customers could choose
their currency,but I am yet to find an internet geek who can set this up
for me. This means in future all links to books will direct you to
pinangtreebooks.com, but the (PB) that follows the link itself contains a
link to the same book on penagbookshelf.com. I hope you understand it
better than I do.
Bestsellers?
A reflection of The Penang Bookshelf's confused market is its Bestseller List (PB)  which is now being constantly updated. Top of the Pops so far this year is the regularly featured.Malayan Spymaster (PB).
Its position helped no doubt by a visit to Penang recently by the
author's son. However the book has always sold well on the internet too.
There are some books such as The Penang Notebook (PB) which never sell on the internet. There are others like Orang Macam Kita (PB), Kongsi Gelap Melayu (PB) and Sacred Ikat (PB) that never sell when they get a public outing.
Of
course The Penang Bookshelf sells as many out of print books as new
ones, but the former are unlikely to feature much in the list as they're
seldom sold in multiple titles. There is one exception, though - Penang Past and Present (PB).
Meet the Author of New World War II Saga
The list is likely to greet a new entrant in the coming week, Boyd Anderson's Amber Road (PB), which has just been published in 
Australia and Singapore. He's been entertaining audiences in both
countries since publication. He'll be giving a talk on the book,
acclaimed for its atmospheric detail, at Seven Terraces Stewart Lane George Town Penang on Tuesday 14th May at 9.30 a.m. You can book a place by emailing Michelle Grimsley of Sprial Synergy or phoning her on 016-457-0221. There are more details about the book and the event on The Penang Bookshelf Blog. If you can't attend and would like a signed copy of the book, just let me know.
A Third Anniversary Approaches
At
the end of this month The Penang Bookshelf will be celebrating the
third anniversary of when it first appeared on a market stall in Penang.
In that time it's managed to build up the broadest selection of books
about Malaysia for sale on the internet. Where do we go next?
Suggestions for improvements and direction are always welcome.
It's
taken on a life of its own and I'm always running to catch up. Thanks
to all of you for your support and patience. It's been refreshing and
inspiring, really!
With best wishes and thanks,
William Knox
The Penang Bookshelf
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News Snippets
So Long, Mitt!
Readers of the last newsletter will remember that the United States' loss last November was The Penang Bookshelf's 
gain (sic.) He gave me some bullsh*t story about having an offer from
academia that he couldn't refuse. While I was trying to construct a
plausible sentence that included both his name and any word that
signified higher learning, he made a good show of convincing me by
dumping this pile of books on my lap. Apparently they were cluttering his new office.Oh yeah!
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| Mitt's new career - he says. |
I
shouldn't maliign the guy too much as they're quite an interesting
selection on a wide range of topics on education, history and politics
in Southeast Asia. They're all (more than 200 of them) on offer at the
moment. Some are rare. If you can convince me you can find them cheaper
anywhere else, there's a good chance I'll reduce the prices further. I
wished him well, hoping that would be the last I saw of him.
I was to be disappointed. In the early hours of 6th May I received a distraught phone call from the guy
asking
for a lift home. Where was he? I should have guessed. He was in Sungai
Petani, Kedah. I found him in a kedai kopi (coffee shop) weeping
copiously over this book. Apparently the temptations of Malaysia's
recent general election had been too much for him. He had managed to
talk himself into being a 'Strategic Advisor' for the Opposition in the
state. The Government promptly regained the state from the Opposition.
Apparently Mitt's sponsoring of a statewide tour of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir wasn't
the success he had hoped. That figures. His new disgruntled employers
were Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) . Anyway he sold me the book to pay
for his flight home. There's a fictional account of the purchase in The Penang Bookshelf Blog.
A Quick Flit
A
happy family event means that I'll be making a quick dash to the UK and
back in the first week of June. So if there are any UK/European
customers who want a book without having to suffer The
Penang Bookshelf's budget breaking airmail charges, just let me know. I
should be able to post books from London for the equivalent of surface
mail charges from Penang. Of course, for Malaysia customers, it should
mean that there'll be another load of newly imported books on the site.
Fiction boost
Although no one ever buys the stuff, The Penang Bookshelf's now stocked
with a whole lot of Malaysian fiction that seldom sees the light of day
anywhere else.They're mainly from Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia
(ITBM)
who specialise in translating Malay literature into other languages.
You'll see their titles heavily represented in our new arrivals lists
for April (PB) and May(PB). Let's hope that fiction sales increase as a result.
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About The Penang Bookshelf
Category Pages - Asian Fiction, Asian History, Asian Religions, Borneo Chinese Ceramics Malaysian Architecture Malaysian Agriculture Malaysian Arts and Culture Malaysia: Cartoons, Malaysian Chinese Community Malaysian Cooking and Food Malaysia: Colonial Biography, Malaysia: Modern Biography, Malaysia - Fiction Malaysia: Journalism， Malaysia: Language & Linguistics, Malaysia: Literature, Malaysia: Malay Community Malaysia & Singapore: 19th Century History, Malaysia: Post-Independence History, Malaysia: Miscellaneous, Malaysian Nature and Wildlife Orang Asli (Indigenous People) Malaysian Poetry Malaysian Politics Malaysia: Religion Malaysia & Singapore: World War II Perak Singapore: Anthropology & Sociology Singapore Fiction
Email: penangbookshelf@gmail.com
Telephone: +60-12-972-6485
Business Address: Aquarius, 4-8-8 Jalan Low Yat,
Batu Ferringhi, 11100, Penang. (The Penang Bookshelf's entire inventory
is available for browsing. Please call to fix an appointment.)
Mailing Address: 36, Cheeseman Road, 11600 Penang, Malaysia
Registered Business No: PG0282219-D
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