Books; shipping them from the UK and buying them in UAE | ExpatWoman.com
 

Books; shipping them from the UK and buying them in UAE

26
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 December 2015 - 15:52

Hello,

Well, less than 2 weeks before we pack up and ship out to Abu Dhabi. We're all excited but a little nervous and are glad that we can bring some of our creature comforts with us. One thing that I am a bit upset about is that our removal company have advised us not to ship any books. Is this something that other people have experienced? We as a family love reading. We have lots of books on history and economics and I can understand why it might be a good idea to leave some of these behind, but what about novels, books on geography or mythology or my little one's story books? Is it likely that they will be censored or seized??? Which brings me onto my next question, what sort of book stores are there in the UAE, can I buy for instance, The Gruffalo, or Spot the Dog fairly easily? Is it possible to buy most of the things you might find in Waterstones in the UK? Is there a UAE version of Amazon or something similar? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Many thanks :-)

26
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 December 2015 - 17:18
Thanks for your reply sarahlou. I know, I was pretty surprised. Before the removal company came to visit, I'd already raised queries on this forum and thought that we'd be ok. Last night I told my husband about your response and we are in agreement that we will ship our little one's story books, cook books, a few big picture books as well as some technical books. Anything too wordy or subjective will be staying behind ? You know, part of my actually thinks that the removal company just don't want to handle the books... There's a lot of them and I guess they are pretty heavy! ?
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 01 December 2015 - 16:14
There are lots of bookshops ( Second hand ones too) http://www.livingindubai.org/8-best-bookstores-in-dubai/ I shipped all my books when I moved here many years ago. They even sold the first one of the 50 shades books here. I have never heard anything about the books you want to ship being censored. I often buy from the UK airports and bring them back with me as books in Dubai are expensive. I am a little baffled to be honest and would think the only books that would be banned are books or magazines which do not adhere to the religious and moral values of the UAE which I imagine none of yours are.