The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Opinions on the increasing number of malls in Cairo varies as more and more shops and cafes dominate them, But, well-stocked bookshop is always a gem to find amidst bustling complexes, so spotting one of Shorouk Bookstore’s newer branches in the constantly growing Cairo Festival City Mall was quite the pleasant surprise.

With its trademark deep green sign, the shop is easy to spot. A brightly lit interior and well-arranged shelves made scanning the cosy bookstore that much easier.

To the far right, we spotted the ‘Bestsellers’ shelf displaying well-known titles from contemporary young adult books such as If I Stay (88LE), to ever-loved classics like Animal Farm (80LE) as well as self-help holy grails like Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (105LE). Arabic bestsellers were right next to them with contemporary works like Utopia (25LE), with the revered novels of Naguib Mahfouz highlighting the display.

The bookshop’s shelves are clearly categorised and labelled with each of the partitions holding a certain genre of books. Literature, translated literature, politics, history, children, young adult, Islamic writings, Egyptology, business and self-help are the most prominent sections, while – at the time of our visit – the ‘New Releases’ section boasted a slew of hot-off-the-press releases, including Ahmed Esseily’s latest book Nos Ketab (‘Half a Book’)  at 28LE.

Right next to the cashier was an eye-catching display of ‘Thinking Gift’ items, which can all serve as creative presents for book lovers. Sticky notes and notepads in the shapes of donuts, sandwiches and toilet seats (48LE), a sturdy book rest (234LE), reading lamps (130LE) and metal bookmarks in the shapes of cats and dogs (60LE) were just some of the items that caught our eyes.

The sales personnel remained quite reserved and left us unperturbed to roam around the shop.  When asked, however, for the prices or availability of certain items, they efficiently lended their services..

All in all, Shorouk Bookstores’ latest branch is a wonderful addition to New Cairo’s shopping scene – a scene that is increasingly becoming overwrought with international clothes brands and gimmicked eateries.  The shop’s limited space and immaculate organisation made it easy to have a quick book shopping spree without accidently spending hours amongst the shelves. But that doesn’t mean you can spend a few hours in there getting lost in blurbs and new-book-smell – if you’re into that sort of thing.