Homegrown Online Shop Offers A Bookworm's Paradise

The Reading Bee’s Shop, a homegrown bookish merchandise online shop, launches to offer bookworms in Egypt an array of merchandise.

Life in Egypt is hard for bookworms who must wait for the release day of that book they have been eyeing for almost a year, and then have to wait a few more weeks to actually get it in Egypt. “Not only that,” says book aficionado Jasmine Shaheen, “but we love to check out Red Bubble, or Etsy, or Society 6 for the amazing fan art and bookish merchandise that are not available here.”

All too familiar with the challenges facing enthusiastic bookworms and active bookstagramers in Egypt, Shaheen recently launched The Reading Bee’s Shop, a bookish merchandise online shop for Egypt’s bookworms, after experimenting with design. “I have been using Photoshop for a long time now, but it was mostly for fun, and just something to fill my free time with,” says Shaheen. “Then I decided to try out making designs of my favorite TV shows, movies and books until it became a habit of mine and I have been making designs now for almost 3 years. Never in my life though did I think that they would actually be more than fun summer projects. But along the way and with the support of my friends and family, I decided to do it and I opened The Reading Bee’s Shop.”

All the designs at the Reading Bee are designed by Shaheen, who explains the aim of the shop is to bring readers one step closer to the wizarding world, to Cabeswater, to the land of Prythian of fae and immortals, to Narnia, to the shadow world, to Westeros, and to the peculiar and wonderful world of books. The shop includes a variety of items from mugs, posters and bookmarks based on your favorite Young Adult novels.

Most recently, Shaheen has added a personalized line: customized bookish necklaces so readers can always carry a piece of their favorite books with them. The necklace artwork is designed by Shaheen, and her friend Boushra Anis does the rest. After the release of every new collection, readers get to order a special customized item from the shop which can be anything from whichever fictional world they like. Shaheen’s merchandise makes for a perfect gift that can be given out as birthday presents for bookworm friends or even yourself because why not! If you are on the lookout for something new and bookish, check out The Reading Bee’s Shop on Facebook and Instagram.