Pegah Book Distribution - North York, Ontario

Farah G.

Excellent costumer servis

hana K.

An excellent bookstore for Iranian readers, offering a diverse selection of Persian books, including literature, history, poetry, and contemporary works. A must-visit for those looking to explore Iranian culture and literature.

pantea H.

A wonderfull bookstore. They have a great variety of books. They also have other cultural items such as handcrafts.
The owner is very helpfull, helping us select book gifts for different ocasions.
He is very kind to kids. My child loves going there!

Sep L.

I had the rudest conversation speaking to the owner yesterday at 7:12 pm (check picture proof). asking him for an Iranian book for my mother. I didn’t speak Farsi. I spoke in English and being here for 35 years and not having an accent the owner decided to tell me “he can’t check right now as he is closing the store for the night”. Ummm sir. Google says you are open till 8pm ( I checked before I called) so I’m not sure why he decided not to help me 47 minutes left to closing BUT I GUARANTEE YOU IF I SPOKE IN FARSI he would have helped. TAKE YOUR MONEY ANYWHERE ELSE!!!! This is my second time having a horrible experience in this store and my loyalty to helping local business especially during the new year will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

Maryam M.

Whenever I get the chance to go to North York, I check Pegah bookstore. It feels like home here. It reminds me of Karmikhan bookstores.
I had thus opportunity recently and was lucky enough to find a lot of my favourite books here.
The fentleman owning the bookstore is familiar with all authors and he can offer you great options for your favourites.
They also have beautiful Persian handcarfts such as handbags.
By the way, this is a Persian bookstore. So most of the books are in Farsi.

Mohammed M.

Such a charming little shop with an atmosphere rich in culture. The owner was super kind and gave us all the time and space to browse and even gave my wife a little gift at the end.

We’re so glad to have found this place and will definitely be visiting again’

Yasmin M.

Well I must say I had the most amazing experience here.
Being a huge bibliophile since early childhood, I knew all the bookstores in every town we lived in (back in Iran). When I moved to the U.S. I was beyond disappointed to find out there aren't any well-established Persian bookstores in America, especially taking into account the fact that there are at least 3 million Iranians in the U.S.
This is the first time we visited Toronto and I was thrilled to find this place. I must say I felt a bit disheartened when I read the google reviews, that they all said the owner was moody and even rude.
Mr. Derakhshan (meaning brilliant in Persian) was beyond helpful. I walked in and asked a million questions and he helped me browse. Here are some tips that will help you understand why I think this is a wonderful bookstore:

1. He knows his inventory, genres and why he has chosen each title. He also knows about all the editions and publishers from Iran.

2. His store is not only rich in old Persian titles and vintage books, he has a bunch of the newest titles in the Iranian market, which is extremely hard to obtain from abroad unless you have family in Iran who can send it to you.

3. He has old persian cds, movies, and records.

4. His store is beautiful. Truly. So many gorgeous artwork and many of them are for sale. Like if you wanted beautiful persian tile coasters!

5. He has so many different genres. From fiction to translated fiction, poetry, politics and even science.

6. He is truly understanding and appreciative of a fellow bibliophile. We had issues with payment and he helped us. He even set aside the titles we couldn't afford on the spot to sent to us on another occasion. He told us we can browse and take as many pictures as we can. He gave us his info so we can order the books we want. He even knocked off the price of an entire book from our order ("so you can come back again!" He said).

7. He has such a wonderful grasp on different versions of the existing books. He can, for example, help you find the best translation.

Aside from all this, I found some true gems. Translations of Fuentes and Celine, Forough Farrokhzad's poetry (original version with no censorship) and many more.

I can understand why some people didn't connect with this place on their first experience. This is just my guess.
Mr. Derakhshan has been a bookseller for 40 years. He has dedicated his life and passion to this job and he has achieved something truly amazing. If you are not a reader and are just looking for ways to pass the time while waiting for your friend to show up for a coffee date, there is a chance you will end up asking irrelevant questions and creating an unwanted frustration for a booklover.

I know it is not a reason for pushing people away but I am mentioning that I understand if Mr. Derakhshan would ask a noninterested customer to leave, based on some reviews. It just shows his passion and dedication to his books.

Altogether, highly recommended for anyone who loves the Persian language and Iranian literature.

Helia A.

Terrible experience! The moment we went in the store he asked us to leave just because it was snowing outside and we had a bit of snow (just a bit) in our hair, we wanted to buy books but he literally told us to leave!