Gate-side reading fix in T1 before domestic flights
This Book and Magazine Shop sits in Terminal T1, on the domestic side of Tan Son Nhat, so it mainly serves Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Bamboo departures. Stock skews toward Vietnamese titles, but you usually see a decent rack of English magazines and some international newspapers. Think last-minute flight entertainment rather than a serious bookstore. Prices run higher than in central Ho Chi Minh City bookshops, but still reasonable for an airport.
Opening hours generally match the T1 schedule, roughly from the first domestic departures around 05:00 until late-night flights after 22:00. That means it works well if you land early from Hanoi and have a layover before a Da Nang hop. You pay at a single counter near the entrance, and they accept Vietnamese dong and the big card networks; smaller banks sometimes fail, so carry at least 100,000 VND in cash if your card gets declined.
Content mix leans to mainstream: Vietnamese novels, travel guides to cities like Hue and Nha Trang, kids’ comics, and glossy titles like fashion and football magazines. Imported English paperbacks, when stocked, tend to be older bestsellers and can be around 200,000–300,000 VND per book. If you just need something for a one-hour hop to Nha Trang, grab a magazine instead of a full novel to keep the spend down.
Practical move: stop here after you pass T1 security rather than at the landside kiosks; post-security shops in SGN usually have more current magazines and today’s papers, and your bag is already screened so you’re not juggling plastic bags in the queue.