Big Bad Wolf Book Sale at Amcorp Mall

The book sale of the year was back. The Big Bad Wolf store was having yet another massive book sale. I’ve heard really good things about the book sale early this year and so I was determined to come to this one. It was at Amcorp Mall – 3rd floor (where the cinema previously was).

Planned to go on Friday evening but I couldn’t get away early so decided to go this morning. Was hoping that it being a public holiday, most people would have balik kampung or be at the mosque. Heard “horror” stories about how packed it was on Friday so Sat morning was my best bet.

It opens at 10 am but I was there around 9.30am and at that time, a line was already forming outside the area (refer pic above). The shutters were still closed tho. I took my place at the end of the line and inched slowly. Can’t remember what time I got it but it must have been around 20-30 minutes.

there was SO MANY books. Rambang mata. The books were mostly sorted by genre. Not by author tho. There was a few rows of Chinese books. I skipped those – of course. These are the genres I saw

• Non-fiction – along the left side of the wall. skipped
• Business – I skipped this.
• Children – kids books were in seperate room – perfect for keeping noisy kids away from the main area. Skipped.
• Reference – atlas, dictionary, SAT ref. This is along the back. Skipped
• Magazines – skipped
• Religious – Small selection of Christian books.
• Chicken Soup Series – RM8 each if im not mistaken. Didn’t realize they had so many types.
• Computing – omg! all at RM15. cheap. Mostly published in 2006-2007. Mostly about Ruby, servers, Windows Vista, Programming.
• Cooking – didn’t seem to have much choices. Maybe there was more at the non-fiction section. Saw a martha stewart and some cookbooks published by magazines, eg: women’s weekly.
• Romance – Right back area. Loads of chic lits, romance novels. Picked up 1-2 books that caught my eye
• Sci-fi & Fantasy – some star trekk books. Lots of forgotten realms. Picked up some here. One thing that dissapointed me was that because its not sorted by author, I couldnt buy a collection. Wanted to get Legends of Drizzt books by R.A. Salavtore but could only find a few and not in order at that. So I didn’t buy.
• Fiction – loads and loads of fiction. Stephen King. Wanted to buy the dark tower series but same problem as above. Soooo many authors. Rambang mata

Thats roughly most of what I remember seeing. Some people brought a list. Not too sure if that was helpful because like I said, it wasnt sorted by author. Just dumped by genre.

They provide boxes. So if you don’t have a bag, you can get a box from them. Just be prepared to lug it around.

Some tips

1. Go early!
2. Bring a bag or two, or three. I brought a pretty big bag, but as you will later see from my purchases, it was clearly not enough. Also, better to go with a friend who can help you carry stuff. If he/she isnt carrying a bunch of stuff of his/her own. LOL!
3. They accept both cash and card
4. Be prepared for a wait
5. I parked in front of Amcorp at the open air parking. It was RM5 for about 3 hours.

DONT DO THESE

1. For goodness sake, leave your kampung at home. Don’t bring your aunties, uncles, 10 kids, the maid, granma, granpa. There was a kid who actually sat on the box where I put my books in.
2. Keep your boxes and bags OFF THE BOOKS! You spoil the books that people want to buy and also block others from seeing it. Inconsiderate.
3. When you are in a group, dont huddle and lean over the books while skimming through the pages. I cant see the titles through your stomach.
4. Don’t bring a shopping trolly like you’re going to the market. it just blocks everyone’s way

Now, the best part, my haul! :D

Craft & Cooking

• Toys to sew – RM 8
• Brunches cookbook – RM 3
• Cookies & slices – RM 3
• Sam Stern’s Get cooking – RM 15
• Paper Popup – RM 12

Computing (all RM15)

• O’Reilly Adding Ajax
• Apress Foundations of Security
• Apress Practical Javascript; DOM Scripting and Ajax Projects

Fiction I – mostly known authors (all RM 8)

• R.A. Salvatore – The Highwayman
• R.A. Salvatore – The Ancient
• Stephen King – The Drawing of the Three
• Stephen King – Song of Susannah
• Stephen King – Rose Madder
• Stephen King – The Bachman Books
  3 stories written by SK under the pseudonym Bachman
• David Baldacci – Stone Cold
• Stephen Coonts – Liberty
• Kathy Reichs – Bones to Ashes
• Kathy Reichs – Devil Bones
  The TV Series Bones are actually based on these books by Kathy Reichs

Fiction II – these are random authors i picked up. Mostly NY Best Sellers, or those with interesting summary (RM 8 each)

• C.J. Sansom – Revelation
• Sheri S. Tepper – The Margarets
• Brad Meltzer – The Book of Fate
• Paul Park – A Princess of Romania
• Kathryn Fox – Malicious Intent
• Eddy Shah – Second World

Fiction III – again, random authors. Except Belle de Jour of course

• Charlaine Harris – Grave Surprise
• Steven Erikson – Midnight Tides
• Peter David – Darkness of the Light
• Belle de Jour – Playing the Game
  Was extremely happy to find this one. And only at RM8 at that. Been eyeing it in the bookstore for some time now

Yea so that’s about it. A total of 28 books for about RM250. Quite a good deal if i must say so myself.

Improvements have to be made tho. The venue was rather small and inconvenient especially since everyone was lugging around boxes and big bags. Books also, if possible, be sorted at least by grouping the same authors together.

I guess it all boils down to how much you are willing to endure to get cheap books. Paperbacks which cost usually RM35+ in bookstores were all RM8 each. Reference books, RM15 or so.

For me, it was satisfying. Happy *grin*