One great thing about studying in Leuven is that virtually everyone speaks English and/or another major European language. This means it is easy to get around and interact with people. But then, nearly everything that’s written, from street names to shop signs and restaurant menus, is in Dutch and this can be initially disconcerting to non-Dutch speakers. It is also quite a challenge for those of us who read stuff mostly in English to find books in that language.

So where in Leuven can one go to get novels and textbooks in English? If you’re studying medicine, literature, philosophy, a good place to look first would be ACCO (Maria-Theresiastraat 2-4). I always go there when I’m looking for a new novel to read. The literature section is modest but works by the likes of Shakespeare, Hemingway, Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, Ian McEwan, and others, people the shelves. They also have those thick Norton anthologies. Most of these books are reasonably priced and some can be bought at a discounted price if you’re an ACCO member. The philosophy collection is not that extensive, but you can find there some major philosophical works like Russel’s The Problems of Philosophy, Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Rawl’s A Theory of Justice. Classic commentaries like Copleston’s multivolume History of Philosophy are also available. If you’re a literature buff and you can’t find your Dostoevsky or Rushdie at ACCO, you might want to try that little bookstore that’s just a street-crossing away, PLATO (Tiensestraat 126). It offers a variety of popular novels and classic literature. I’ve the impression though that the prices there are generally a tad higher.
Another place I go to is FNAC (Bondgenotenlaan 32). Apart from being a great shop to get your music CDs and DVDs, gaming-, TV- and computer-related stuff, this place has a bookstore on the first floor that offers books for kids (mostly in Dutch), books in French, Spanish, and most importantly (for me at least) in English. It’s there that I buy my Orwell, Murukami, and Nabokov novels. Now if you’re into theology, linguistics, history, and the social sciences, I would suggest that you check out the shop of the publisher PETEERS (Bondgenotenlaan 153). I believe theirs is the largest stock of books in English in all of Leuven. They also sell a lot of philosophical works, dictionaries, and reference books. The prices are likewise reasonable and one can always place an order with them for a book that they don’t have at the moment.
If you don’t need anything in particular but are simply looking for books to keep you company during those grey and cold Belgian days and nights, you might want to consider exploring DE SLEGTE (Bondgenotenlaan 47), a large secondhand bookstore in the center of town. The store houses a great number of books, mostly in Dutch, but there are shelves devoted to books in English about a range of topics: art, biology, history, warfare, philosophy, literature, etc. There are also travel guides, popular fiction and some children’s books. I have to say though that I personally find the prices there quite steep for used, sometimes well-thumbed books.
In case you’ve scoured these places and still can’t find the book you want or need, or perhaps you simply find it too expensive to buy from these shops, you better get online and browse through amazon.co.uk (delivery of a book from the UK to Belgium costs only 3.94 pounds) or abebooks.co.uk. I prefer buying books online not only because I find it less expensive, but also because I’ve always enjoyed receiving a parcel by post: the feeling is similar to getting a gift you know you will certainly like! |