The bookstores in Pune are a real shame. For example, walk into Popular bookstore in Deccan and you’ll leave in less than 5 minutes wondering "why didn’t they have books in there?" And when you tell your friends how you went to 10 stores and still couldn’t find a single Kurt Vonnegut novel, they ask the most annoying question ever: "Tu crossword madhe baghitlas ka?" And can’t decide who’s the bigger moron, my friends, because that’s the first bookstore everyone goes to, or me, because if I didn’t find it at Crossword, why did I go to 9 other stores?
If my rant confuses you, here’s the shizz: Crossword is your best chance at finding a book(well it’s actually Landmark, but I’m taking aboutfinding a book)
Also, this review is for the Crossword at cpk(That’s city pride kothrud for non-kothrud people ??) store specifically. Yes, the one that stands in the way as you’re walking in for a movie, asking’bro, why don’t you read more huh?’
So yeah, this place is a haven for English majors. They have way too much classic lit and not enough modern literature. They cater to all the big shiny names but when the curious reader inside you craves to dig deeper for lesser known names, translated works or literally any book other than a #1 NY Bestseller, sorry bro, Crossword can’t help you. The employees at Crossword Kothrud are literally so unhelpful, you start feeling sorry that you’ll never find this book you want so bad. The following is my actual experience with the staff:
I was looking for The Scarlet Letter and after half an hour of not finding it, I went to the guy at the computer for his help. He typed the names in and after two minutes said "yeah, you’ll find it in the middle isle" and I felt like banging my head because of the moron dilemma returning. THAT’S WHERE I WAS SEARCHING BIATCH.
These guys, unlike Landmark, won’t do you any favors and order the book for you in case it isn’t there. Even if you ask them, they won’t.
It has a decent collection of dvds(for the people who’d shell 999 for advd instead of watching it online). In this aspect, it is a real shame that JM Road Crossword shut down. That place was awesome!
Like I said, you’ll find all your regular best sellers and the whole plethora of Indian writers whether or not you want to read them. Many times, there are surprising little gems hidden in the shelves; like Mindy Kaling’s first book or Rujuta Diwekar’s The Thyroid PCOS Book. Grab them, you won’t find them on your next trip.
Sadly, even the Children’s section is infested with classics like nancy drew and whatever. NOT ENOUGH ROALD DALH.
The collection for tweens is hugely unsatisfactory in that it is entirely absent! Yeah, where’s my princess diaries bro? Do I have spend my formative years reading Jane Austen? If you want to keep a bookstore, tweens should be your priority, those pre-pubescents need it the most.
So basically, the staff is not friendly; you don’t have enough variety across genres and ages; you can’t dig deeper to find lesser known names and they won’t offer to order it for you.
Crossword can never be my favorite bookstore because of these reasons but hey, if you want to walk in on your way to the movies, you’ll surely find something(orsomeone) you like. Yeah, met a fair bunch of cute guys here.