No Kindle Necessary!

Sadly it is inevitable that an avid reader can read more in a weeks holiday than can be packed in luggage already weighted down with other less important but necessary things. For this reason people have increasingly turned to the dreaded kindle, the e-reader, the battery powered pocket sized library and yes it is light and yes it is bottomless but it is also most definitely soulless. For those of you who prefer the true feeling of a book in your hands, the pages fluttering in the breeze and sand sticking in the spine then fear not, I have scoured the streets of Northern Mallorca and have found you your solutions.

There are sadly few shops where you can buy new books in English, a few of the larger Tabac shops in the beach resorts stock limited book selections, generally one small stand each in English, French, German and Spanish. Two of these Tabac’s can be found in Puerto Pollenca one almost directly opposite the main bus stop and another one if you walk further along the waterfront promenade. Port D’Alcudia also has two, again situated along the waterfront. In Cala Sant Vincenc you’ll find a newsagent on Temporal Street with a decent collection in various languages. The problem with these shops is that they can charge what they like and often do. You won't find a new book in these shop’s for under €5 and you’ll find most a lot more expensive than that, if you’re a book a day kind of person it can add up fast.

For a free option always check your hotel. Any tourist accommodation worth it’s salt should be in possession of a bookshelf stocked by books left behind by previous holidaymakers. These bookshelves generally run on a free ‘take a book, leave a book’ premise and you’d do well to honour it, hell has a special circle for people who abuse this system. If you don’t like the collection at your hotel wander into another one, so long as you leave a book when you take a book front desk staff will generally turn a politely blind eye. Hostels are particularly good for ‘literature’ whilst larger hotels provide ample bestsellers and beach reads, you’ll find crime novels and Dan Brown works in any and all locations.

When you’ve exhausted the free bookshelves then head to the next best thing the Second-hand Bookshop, of which there are a few.

In Port D’Alcudia head to Little Britain, the British supermarket located on Caller de les Barques, one road back from the beach. In Little Britain, amongst the hot cross buns and jars of Branston pickle you’ll find a sizable collection of books all going for 50c each.

In Puerto Pollenca you have a couple more options. Agora on Carrer Juan XXIII close to the port is primarily a leather and jewellery shop but they do have a nice collection of books for sale. They put a bookcase out front daily but it’s filled with rather dated and dry texts, the best collection is inside at the back of the shop, books here are in several languages and are priced individually from €1-3.

On the far side of the town on Carrer de Mendez Nunez you’ll find a little second hand furniture shop, devoid of any name or logic regarding opening hours but hosting a respectable couple of shelves of books all in English and 50c each.

Which just leaves the crème de la crème of second-hand bookshops; Allan Graham Children’s charity shop on Carrer de Llevant in Puerto Pollenca. An Aladdin’s cave of books awaits inside this seemingly ordinary shop front. A few boxes and a rack of 50c books outside don’t do justice to the back room of this shop shelved floor to ceiling with books organised by language, alphabetised and with a separate children’s and non fiction area. All books inside are €1 for paperbacks and €2 hardback and you’ll find all genres accounted for, from Penguin Classics to 50 Shades of Grey and everything in between. The staff here are mostly English volunteers and all are extremely helpful and downright nice. This is the spot to head to if you need a library home away from home.

See, there’s no need to spend a fortune and certainly no need for the dreaded kindles, leave them at home, pack two real books and restock for cheap or free as necessary.