Greenhouse Kitap, Istanbul

Where? Istanbul, Turkey



Recommended by: Lynne Humphreys

Lynne Said: "I wanted to tell you about a bookstore which has two floors of English language books with a wide range of adults and children's books. It is Greenhouse and is situated on the Asian side of the Bosphorous (unlike the other bookstores you have listed which are all on the European side) in Istanbul. It is warm and friendly, staff speak English and Turkish and there is also an excellent website. For ex-pats and travelers alike, it is a great place to find out what is happening on our side of the city, where anyone, anywhere, can order books that are stocked by the Greenhouse Book company - with door to door delivery. Departments include Turkish history, novels set in Turkey, Turkish authors translated into English, travel in Turkey, arts, Islam, politics and culture. Books for learning Turkish. There is also the latest novels and the LARGEST choice of children's books in English in the whole of Istanbul."

As Lynne has already pointed out in her wonderful recommendation, the next bookstore to be added to our Guide in 2009 is geographically located outside of Europe. To avoid any confusion, we haven't decided to expand our Guide yet. But as we already list several bookstores from Istanbul, and considering the specific location of the city and the fact, that we absolutely prefer accepting recommendations we receive from our readers to rejecting them, we agreed on including Greenhouse Kitap. So for now, this is the only bookstore in the Guide which can be found on non-European soil.

The Greenhouse bookshop has been providing English books to the Asian part of Istanbul since 1996, when it was founded by Charlotte McPherson, an American expat living in Turkey. The bookstore originally included a café, directly integrated into its premises. In December 2007, the bookstore moved to its present location at 17 Dumlupinar Sokak and it no longer includes a café. What it certainly does include is a great amount of carefully selected books. Two floors packed with English titles hold more than 70 thousand books. Two sections of the bookstore's stock stand out among the rest and are considered to be the best in the whole city - the section devoted to books on the city of Istanbul and on Turkey and the children's section. The offer is very up-to-date, as around 1500 new books arrive to the bookstore each month. And since Greenhouse Kitap imports directly from the UK, the prices are the same or below the original cover price.

A few years into its existence, Greenhouse also entered the domain of publishing, and it now manages to put out several titles a year, mostly focused on the history and culture of Turkey. Greenhouse Kitap also tries to serve as some sort of community place for the expat population in Istanbul - interesting seminars, discussions and even Turkish language courses for all levels take place in the seminar room of the bookstore.

Greenhouse Kitap
Address:
Dumlupinar Sok 17 (Kadiköy)
Istanbul










Website: http://greenhousekitap.info

Phone and Email:
0216 449 3034
info@greenhousekitap.info

Working Hours:
daily 10-18:30 except for Tuesday and Sunday

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