Gate-side reading fix before security in Terminal 1
This Books and Magazines Shop sits in Taipei Songshan’s Terminal 1 public area, so you can grab reading material before you even head to security. It’s one of the few non-food options on the T1 landside level, handy if you’re meeting someone off flight AE or CI and killing 20–30 minutes. Expect Taiwanese newspapers, Chinese-language novels, and a mix of Mandarin and English magazines lined up by category.
Stock leans heavily Mandarin, with a modest English rack that usually covers travel, business, and a couple of international news weeklies. Pricing tracks regular Taiwan bookstore rates, not inflated “airport prices,” so a magazine that’s NT$150 in the city is roughly the same here. Kids’ titles sit near the entrance at about NT$100–200, which helps if you need something fast for a short domestic hop of 45–60 minutes.
Hours generally follow Terminal 1’s daytime schedule, opening around the first departures and closing after the last evening wave, roughly 07:00–21:00; don’t count on it for a 06:00 or 22:30 flight. Because it’s before security, non-flyers can still buy books for travelers on Mandarin Airlines or UNI Air flights out of T1. Staff usually handle quick payments in cash or standard Taiwan cards without fuss.
Tip: grab your magazine here before going airside in Terminal 1, since post-security reading options shrink and you may end up stuck with whatever’s left at a small snack kiosk near your gate.