T. H. P Dawood (Deen) who was born to a family in Colombo which undergoes immense financial hardship, left school at the age of fifteen. Looking for ways to make ends meet, by the age of twenty he was compelled to work at several places. Having learned the Sinhala language he also followed a course in short hand and type writing with the intention of joining his father who worked as secretary and typist for two lawyers at the Colombo Court premises. Not having much knowledge of the English language nothing materialized, hence with the intention of going abroad and acquiring knowledge of the English language he joined Peter Bookshop ( a second hand book shop) in Maradana as a book repairer, where he pasted damaged books and also made paper bags with waste magazines. Within a short period he acquired knowledge about books and learnt the language, so he soon became the head of the shop.

As for reading experience he inquires about books that his customers read and gathers knowledge about the background of the novels. As a result he was able to narrate tales to other customers and even recommend books for their reading, which has enabled him to earn many faithful customers who buy books from him. Now he has read many books and improved and polished his language to a great extent.

With the help of many rich and friendly customers he started his own shop in 1983.

His slogan is ,

‘ You name it, I find it!’.

Until the year 2005 he was located in Maradana where he rented a shop, after which he moved to the church premises in Slave Island and now he is located in Wellawatte.

Now his theme is:

‘spend less and read more.’

He works with the intention of sharing the habit of reading with everyone so that more people will cultivate the habit of reading. He has a vast collection of interesting books which include many collectibles that are hard to find. His is one of the very few or rather only bookshop that stocks early prints to ensure that they are preserved for our future generations and book lovers.