Uwani, Enugu · open since 2016 · 4,000 titles, 3 chairs, 1 opinion

Books. Cheap. Come and argue.

My name is Chinedu Nwosu. Everybody in Uwani calls me Odogwu — not because I earned it, but because I painted it on the signboard myself and nobody has successfully argued with a signboard. I sell new books, second-hand books, and unsolicited advice about what you should be reading instead.

Prices below are real. The recommendations are free. The arguing is compulsory.

Find the shop See the shelves

Move your cursor around — the shop is dark until you shine on it.

The shelves

Prices are per book, not per kilogram. Second-hand means someone else loved it first — that is a feature.

Nigerian & African writing

Things Fall Apart — Chinua Achebe

New copies always in stock. If you have never read it, I will walk you to the chair

₦4,500

Half of a Yellow Sun — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Second-hand, good condition, one previous owner who underlined the sad parts

₦3,800

The Famished Road — Ben Okri

The one people buy, start, and bring back. I keep buying it back. It is a cycle

₦4,200

Second-Class Citizen — Buchi Emecheta

Thin book, heavy book. I recommend it to anybody who says they are too busy to read

₦3,500

Efuru — Flora Nwapa

The first African woman to publish a novel in English. I mention this to every customer

₦3,900

Business, money & self-help

Rich Dad Poor Dad — Robert Kiyosaki

I have sold 300 copies and I am still here selling books. Draw your own conclusion

₦3,000

The 48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene

Bought mostly by people who then try the laws on me. It never works. I read it first

₦5,500

Atomic Habits — James Clear

Buy it, read the first chapter, form one habit: coming back to buy another book

₦6,000

Think and Grow Rich — Napoleon Hill

1937 edition reprint. The advice is old. The rent is new. Both are real

₦3,200

Small business record book (local print)

For traders who keep their accounts in their head and their head in the market

₦1,800

School & exam prep

WAEC past questions bundle (5 subjects)

Sold as a set. I will not sell you one subject. That is how people fail

₦7,500

JAMB/UTME practice pack

Includes the year I got the answers wrong in the answer key. I fixed it. Mostly

₦6,000

New General Mathematics (JSS1–3)

Second-hand, some pencil workings from a student who clearly gave up in chapter four

₦2,500

Primary school readers (per title)

The ones with the pictures. Parents buy three, children lose one. Standard mathematics

₦1,200

University handouts & photocopied texts

Bound properly, not stapled. I have standards, even for photocopies

₦2,000

Second-hand corner

Any three paperbacks

Mixed authors, mixed moods. You pick three, I judge all three, you pay one price

₦5,000

Mills & Boon, by the armful

I do not ask who is buying them and I do not tell anybody. Discretion is a service

₦800

Old dictionaries & atlases

Some from 1979. The world has changed. The maps have not. Buy it for the nostalgia

₦2,200

Trade-in: bring your old books

I look at them, I sigh, I offer you a price. You complain. We settle. Everybody leaves happy

credit

Things the owner says

A short sample. The full catalogue is delivered live and cannot be switched off.

"You want a book to change your life? Any book will change your life if you actually open it."
"This one is ₦4,500. Yes, the cover is torn. The words are not torn. The words are perfect."
"I don't stock that one. But sit down — I will tell you which one is better and why."
"Everybody wants the book that will make them rich. Nobody wants the book that will make them read."
"You are buying it for your nephew. Your nephew does not read. Buy him the one with pictures. Start small."
"Come back on Saturday. New carton arriving. I don't know what's inside. That is the fun part."

Shop rules

Five rules. I wrote them myself. I break two of them regularly.

You may read standing up for as long as you like. You may not read sitting down for more than one hour unless you have bought something. The chair is a reward, not a library.
No folding the corners of my books. I will see it. I always see it. Use the receipt — it is free and it is the correct size.
Do not ask me "which one is the best book?" I will answer. It will take twenty minutes. You will buy something else anyway.
Bargaining is allowed on second-hand only. New books have a price because the publisher has a price. Argue with the publisher. Write them a letter.
If you are a student and you genuinely cannot pay, tell me. I have a shelf for that. It is not charity, it is inventory rotation, and I will deny saying this.

Find me

Tell me what you're looking for and I'll tell you if it's on the shelf — or hold it for you until Saturday.

Hours

Monday: 8:00 – 19:00
Tuesday: 8:00 – 19:00
Wednesday: 8:00 – 19:00
Thursday: 8:00 – 19:00
Friday: 8:00 – 20:00
Saturday: 7:00 – 20:00
Sunday: Closed until 2pm — church, then lunch

If the shutter is half down, I'm inside counting stock. Knock twice and shout "Odogwu".

Where the shop is

Odogwu Books
14 Nwani Street, off Zik Avenue
Uwani, Enugu 400102
Enugu State, Nigeria

Green shutter, yellow signboard, one plastic chair outside that is not for sitting — it is for guarding the shop. Second floor of the building with the tailor downstairs. Ask for the man with the books.

The shop itself

One room, four walls, shelves to the ceiling and a ladder that has been described as "a suggestion". Ceiling fan works. Light works when NEPA agrees. There is a stool by the window where regulars sit and pretend to browse while they finish an argument from last week.

I buy second-hand books on Tuesdays and Fridays. Bring them clean. Bring them dry. Do not bring me a book with a dead insect inside it. It has happened. Twice.

"People come in for one book and leave with three. That is not upselling. That is diagnosis."
— Chinedu "Odogwu" Nwosu, Odogwu Books, Uwani