City Book Room
A Chinese and bilingual literary bookshop-publisher with Singapore, Malaysian and Taiwanese titles.
City Book Room is a Chinese-language and bilingual bookstore-publisher now based at The Modules on Joo Chiat Road. Its site lists Chinese books, City Book Room publications, fiction, essays, poetry, picture books, history, humanities, art and design, English books and Singapore-related titles. It is especially strong for readers interested in Singapore and Malaysian Chinese literature, translated works and curated cultural conversations. The shop keeps regular hours with Tuesday closure, and its online store provides delivery for Singapore orders above a stated threshold.
City Book Room is compact but serious, especially for readers who care about Chinese-language literature in Singapore and the region. Its mix of publishing, retail and cultural programming gives it more editorial character than a generic import shelf. I like it most for Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong titles, plus the way it keeps older and newer literary threads visible. The trade-off is accessibility: it sits upstairs in a Joo Chiat building, so it needs more intention than a mall bookstore.
It offers one of Singapore's more thoughtful Chinese and bilingual literary catalogues, with local publishing activity and a focused Joo Chiat presence.