Mega Torg

Archive for November, 2011

How would you like to learn how to better search the Internet to find information? Well, maybe you need to stop right now and study a bit. You see, if you spend three to four hours now and have the tools you need to do better searches then you will save 100s of hours each year on the Internet, clicking on crap. The Google tool bar and search features are outstanding tools to use whether you are doing research, looking to buy something or just plain surfing around.

Let me recommend a great book that you should read on this topic at your earliest convenience:

It’s not hard to find English reading material in Brussels. In fact, most of the French and Dutch bookstores carry a range of English best-sellers. But where do you go if you are looking for something besides the latest Dan Brown thriller?

If you enjoy reading as much as I do, purchasing English books in Brussels can get expensive. Here are a few places to find good deals on books as well as more variety than the English corner of the major book stores.

Waterstone’s

The obvious choice for English books in Brussels is Waterstone’s. This UK chain has a fairly large store in Brussels and, along with the usual best-sellers, they have a decent selection of magazines, cookbooks, reference and children’s books. Waterstone’s isn’t cheap but they often have ‘buy 2 get one free’ deals and discounts on best-sellers.

Waterstone’s

Boulevard Adolphe Maxlaan 71-75

B-1000 Brussels

Belgium

Sterling Books

Not far from Waterstone’s, you can find Sterling Books. Sterling is a bit more expensive and doesn’t have as large a selection as Waterstone’s, but they do have some more unique choices. Their travel literature section is particularly good. As the largest English independent bookseller in Brussels, you can sleep easier knowing you aren’t lining the pockets of yet another chain store.

Sterling Books

38, Rue Fossé aux Loups

1000 Brussels

Belgium

Stonemanor

If you have a car, or a lot of patience to ride the De Lijn bus, you can head out to Everberg and visit Stonemanor. Besides having all of the British food delicacies you may be craving, Stonemanor has a small selection of English books. While there aren’t as many books to choose from as at the actual bookstores, there are often decent discounts on older books, as they change their stock frequently. Even better is their selection of English magazines. The cooking section alone is worth the trip.

Twice a year (spring and fall), Stonemanor hosts one of the best book events in Belgium – the charity book sale. During this sale, second-hand books are donated and sold for a euro an inch! That’s right – you stack your books beside a ruler and pay by the inch. There is always a huge selection of paperbacks from the best-seller list as well as children’s books and DVDs.

Stonemanor

Steenhofstraat 28

3078 Everberg

Belgium

Cook and Book

Cook and Book, as the name suggests, is both a book shop and a restaurant. The English section in Cook and Book is small and quite expensive but it is a comfortable place to browse. You can also find great English art and travel books if you are prepared to dive into the predominately French areas of the store. Even if you only browse, or stop for a bite to eat, Cook and Book is definitely worth a visit.

Cook and Book

Ave Paul Hymans 251

1200 Brussels

Belgium

Filigranes

Filigranes is a predominantly French book store but there are a few reasons why it appeals to English readers. First, it has a coffee and snack bar – something that is seriously lacking in the Belgian book store scene. There is a decent selection of English paperbacks in the basement and a few English magazines can be found if you poke through the magazine section. The art and travel sections are definitely worth browsing. True, most of the books are in French but you can spot a few English gems as well.

Filigranes

Avenue des Arts 39

1000 Brussels

Book Festival

Once a year in Brussels, (more frequently if you are willing to travel to other cities), you can greatly increase your English library by visiting the book festival. This is run by a Dutch company and visits major cities in Belgium and the Netherlands. There are many English books available for extremely low prices. If you are looking for last season’s best-sellers, at up to 90% off, this is the place to go.

Other English Book Options

There are tons of second-hand bookstores in Brussels and most of the larger ones carry at least a limited selection of English books. If you are looking for bargains (and sometimes freebies), check out the expat forums in spring and fall when the annual expat migration is in full swing. Also, don’t forget that Amazon UK delivers to Belgium, usually very quickly.

It may take a bit more searching to find that elusive English book at a reasonable price, but there are a lot worse places on the continent for an English book-lover to be located. Happy Reading!

A world of pleasure awaits you with the use of audio books. So many people thoroughly enjoy reading, but few actually can read as much as they would like. Reading is a fascinating pastime and has rewards of its own, however, there is also much benefit that can be gained from listening to books as well.

A lot of the joy that comes from listening to it, seems to take us back to the time when we were children. We can actually recapture the joy of closing our eyes and listening while someone reads a story that transports us to another time and place.

It becomes a lot of fun to collect different audio books, and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg for your collection. They can be purchased both new and used, rented, checked out at the library or downloaded. There are also ones that are free of charge.

When a person is a book worm and wants to have a library, most of the time, they purchase books new, as there may be others in their family that reads them as well. Sometimes, people will also purchase books on sale or in used condition. This creates a nice rounded library that they may be proud of. For more zealous readers, it may be more convenient to go to the local library and check out books. The same can also be said of audio books. There are numerous audio libraries scouring the country, where you too, may have the pleasure of checking out a variety of these stories on CD.

Where To Find A Free Audio Book

To begin your search for a free audio book, you may wish to start by looking at your local library. There are also a number of sites on the internet, where you are able to download them for free. All you need to do is type “free audio book” into Google. There will be so many results, including books for sale or rent, and those for free, you’ll be simply amazed.

A very helpful organization that provides free public domain audio books is called LibriVox. This company has volunteers who record free ones and publish the files onto the internet. From there they are offered as free downloads. This company has a goal to record all books in the public domain.

There are a variety of free audio books and included in this list, are books for entertainment, books to learn languages, university and educational courses, inspirational books and promotional material as well.

Remember you can turn a monotonous task or an otherwise boring time, into a period of pleasure in your life by listening to one. Start by introducing a free audio book into your world, and you’ll soon realize, they need to become a permanent part of your life.