English Books, Magazines and Newspapers

Books, newspapers, magazines and other printed matter in English are available at most leading bookstores, in souvenir shops of larger hotels and at some newsstands.

Many bookstores carry a large selection of books in English. 7th Street Books, in downtown San José, is one of the city's best bookstores (Calle 7, between Ave. 1 and Central, Tel: 256-8251 e-mail: marroca@sol.racsa.co.cr). The North American owner's, John and Mark, stock a wide range of new and used books in English, with an excellent selection of travel, Spanish, nature books and U.S. magazines. They will even special order books for you. Textos Educativos (283-6440, 228-9801 and e-mail: textedu@sol.racsa.co.cr) also sells books in English. They sell books on art, interior design, cooking, business, medicine, paperbacks, children's topics, Spanish for foreigners and English language teaching textbooks.

LibroMax is a new discount bookstore chain offering up to 50 percent off on some titles. This chain has stores in downtown San José, the San Pedro Mall and at the San Perdro Outlet Mall.

You can also find a good selection of English books in the book section of any of the three Librería Universal department stores (Ave. Central, Tel: 222-2222), and Librería Lehmann (Ave. Central, Calles 1 and 3, Tel: 223-1212). La Casa de Revistas, in the Yaohan Shopping Center has an excellent selection of magazines, newspapers and paperbacks in English and Spanish. They also have stores in San José near Morazán Park and in the cities of Heredia and Alajuela. Staufer (Plaza del Sol Shopping Center, Tel: 234-2257) rounds out the list of bookstores selling English language books.

Mora Books (Tel: 255-4136/383-8385) is located in downtown San José in the Omni Building on Avenida 1 between streets 3 and 5. They have over 25,000 volumes on display and specialize in used books. The Literate Cat (Tel: 262-5206) is a small bookstore located in Heredia.

Librería Internacional, is a European-style bookstore (BarrioDent, 300 meters west of Taco Bell, San Pedro. Tel: 253-9553 Fax: 234-7698). This bookstore isn't global in name only since it sells books in English, Spanish and German. Prices are only insignificantly higher than U.S. bookstores (You may want to check with www.amazon.com first and then order through one of the local private mail services like Aerocasillas). The store has been so successful that the owner has opened new stores in the Multiplaza shopping center (on the second floor of the third stage) west of Escazú in Plaza Cemaco in Zapote, Rohrmoser and in the Mall Internacional in the city of Alajuela. Major libraries in the San José area have large collections of English language books and magazines.The place to go for the best selection of books is the Mark Twain Library at the North American-Central American Culture Institute, commonly known as the Centro Cultural. You can browse all day or check out books. They also have nearly one hundred English magazines to choose from. Call 253-5783 for more information.

The National Library, near downtown San José, is not a browsing library but has a large selection of novels and magazines in English. You have to use the card catalog to select your book and then request it at the front desk. Also, the University of Costa Rica Library has some materials in English.

There are public libraries in the San José area and suburbs that have mainly Spanish language books. They can be found in the cities of Desamparados (Tel: 250-0426), Hatillo (254-1028), Montes de Oca (272-0809), Ciudad Colón (249-3516), Santa Ana (282-9106), Puriscal (416-8300) and Tibás (236-3087).

There is no problem obtaining copies of New York Times, Time or Newsweek in Costa Rica. The Miami Herald international satellite edition is now also available in Costa Rica. You can pick up most English newspapers and magazines at local newsstands, hotels and some bookstores. You can also arrange to have many of the newspapers we mention in this section delivered to your home or office the same day they are published by calling Agencia de Publicaciones at 259-5555, 259-5656, or 259-0812.

Other English Language Publications:
o Barron's
o International Herald Tribune
o Sporting News
o Sports Illustrated
o USA Today
o Wall Street Journal
o Washington Post

The largest English newspaper published in Central America, The Tico Times, is available almost everywhere. Reading it is an excellent way to keep up with local Costa Rican and Central American news in general. Car sales, cultural activities and other useful information can also be found in this newspaper. The newspaper costs about one dollar. Pick up a copy as soon as you arrive. It comes out every Friday.

To subscribe to the Tico Times (if you live in the U.S.) write Dept. 717, P.O. Box 025216, Miami, FL 33102. If you live in Costa Rica: Apdo. 4362, San José, Costa Rica. You can read this newspaper on line at:http://www.crica.com/times.html.

An excellent multi-language newspaper is, Central America Weekly. It is a synthesis of three former publications - Costa Rica Akutell, in German; Costa Rica Today, in English and Spanish; and an Italian news supplement to Aktuell. The paper has good business tips and is distributed in all Central American countries. To subscribe: Central America Weekly, SJO - 117, P.O. Box 0025216, Miami, FL 33102.Tel: (506) 296-5500 Fax:(506) 290-7923 E-mail: sales@centralamericaweekly.com.

A.M. Costa Rica is an online newspaper which recently made its debut. In additional to the usual daily news events and features there is an excellent classified ads section. You may access this onl;ine newspaper at: www.amcostarica.com. For additional information contact them at A.M. Costa Rica, Apartado 6318-1000, San José, Costa Rica, Tel/Fax: (506)-231-7528 E-mail: editor@amcostarica.com.

La Nación, Costa Rica's best Spanish newspaper, has a new online version in English at: www.nacion.com/In_ee/english.