Priceless books waiting to be found at Hanoi book fair

Hanoi's second-hand book fair is held once a month at the University of Culture's campus at 418 La Thanh Street in Dong Da District.

Readers can contact 10 bookstores at the fair to order a book that they wish to own but are out of print.

Thousands of old books from various fields such as literature, history, culture, military, politics, law, science, foreign languages and even Western medicine can be found at the fair to meet the tastes of all readers.

An elderly woman examines a worn old book.

Whether the books are new or old, they are all sold at discounts reaching up to 50 percent.

You can find classic novels by world-famous writers. In the picture is a set of “And Quiet Flows the Do”, an epic novel by Russian writer Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov.

A stall owner said that readers can search for rare books which were published 40 years ago or released in a limited print run.

“Our bookstore offers 3,000 copies for sale. There are some precious books hidden away but you must be very lucky to find them. The price of a rare book can be tens of thousands but many readers are willing to pay millions to have them,” a stall owner named Guong said.

“I take my grandchildren to the fair each month so that they can find and choose new books. This will help them to learn and get into reading as well,” said the man in the picture.