The English Bookshop — Local services in Amsterdam

If you are looking for a very organized English bookstore that has hundreds of books each from a wide variety of genres ranging from biographies to adventure novels to out-of-this-world sci-fi novels, you are at the right place!

The books are organized based on genres and they also have a nice collection of the classics from each genre. I particularly liked that they had the illustrated edition of the handmaid's tale in stock, and it was also priced about the same as it was on Amazon.

When I last visited the bookshop, they also had this very cool concept of a "blind date with a book" going on, where they had a couple of books that were individually wrapped. Each wrapped book had a short list of descriptive words printed on the wrapper that gave an idea of the genre to which the book belongs. And one would have to pick a book just based on these list of words.

The people who work at this bookshop are friendly and helpful, and they also seem truly passionate about their job. This is evident from the way they organise fun events like the above-mentioned "blind date with a book" and also from the way they interact with/help/guide fellow readers who visit their store. They try and help us as much as they can, all while wearing a smile on...

The saleswoman of this bookstore was very rude and after looking at some books she indicated to me that either I was buying a book or I had to leave. Amazed, I asked her if she was throwing me out, to which she replied that the place was not a library. I asked him about a book and she answered again in a rude way indicating that he did not know the answer, but that he should buy them or leave. It was quite unusual for me that kind of rudeness that I left. A block away there is another bookstore, with four floors full of books, with very friendly and professional staff and able to answer any questions about the books. In short, I can't recommend this bookstore, but the one a few meters away, where you'll find more variety, better prices and the most important thing: kindness and professionalism of people who show that...

I bought a book, an illustrated “Guards, Guards!”, from here a week ago. There was a handwritten sign on the shelf under the book which said “signed by Terry Pratchett”. Turns out, it was not signed by him but the illustrator of the book. Less than a week later, I come back to return the book but of course (!) they don’t do returns. And the handwritten sign was still there on the shelf. They said that they weren’t aware, and only offered me to exchange it or only a 6 month voucher. It was an expensive book so it was difficult to find other books in their limited selection. They kept insisting that the handwritten sign was shipped with the book from England and they can’t do nothing about it. They were not even apologetic (even went as far as gaslighting me and my friend) while I was technically scammed by them....