The dedicated couch potato have much to look forward to every September. Fall means a new slate of programming, including new anime titles and the return of everyone's favorite TV series.
For me, fall also means the annual return of the Manila International Book Fair.
Even if I haven't been reading as much as I would like in the past twelve months and have yet to finish my haul from last year's event, there's no way I was missing it. The words "lots of books" combined with "on discount" will always rouse me from my sleepy weekends.
Oh boy, was I sleepy last Saturday. I had been working (aka waiting up for the internet to work) late the previous night and could only get a couple of hours of sleep. Normally, I'd be all cranky or just relatively unresponsive, but with Marvin patiently dosing me with caffeine and a McDonald's sausage McMuffin sandwich for breakfast, I was pretty much alert for the most part.
And since I had the event to look forward to, I would also randomly shout "Book Fair!!" every once in a while. I'm still not sure if I shouted it as a battle cry, to express my excitement or just to surprise myself awake by potentially embarrassing myself in public. Regardless of the reason, I ended up raising both my fists and exclaiming the words during the long wait for SMX to open its hall doors.
It was pretty much like last year's book shopping date, since our friends arrived too late to join us at the event itself. Marvin and I mapped out our route and devised a battle plan, in case there would be a sudden crush of people since it's a Saturday. The first stops for Marvin included the UP and UST printing press booths, then we would make our way to National Bookstore. It was somewhere in the middle of this itinerary that we ended up buying paper products. I can't help it. I'm addicted to paper products, whether they're notebooks, post-its or memo pads. Seeing a stack of paper will always drive me into a frenzy. In any case, they were cute and had a wicked sense of humor about horribly Filipinized English quotes.
Afterwards, I did a quick run through of the National Bookstore shelves, but my foray in the fantasy/sci-fi section was impeded by nuns who were trying to get to the religious books that were right next to it. We moved on to Fully Booked (yay! they weren't part of the event last year), where I was met with a bunch of challenges that were in conflict with my prepared wish list for the day. First, they had bare selections for Terry Pratchett and Brandon Sanderson. Second, their edition of Cassandra Clare's "City of Ashes" was too small, while Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance" was too big. While I was slightly disappointed, these hurdles were not enough to keep me from buying some titles.
I suggested we return to the National Bookstore area, where Marvin can easily cross over to the Anvil Publishing area, so I can check to see if I have to bodily throw somebody out of the way to get to the fantasy/sci-fi section. Thankfully, the section was relatively free, giving me the chance to browse through the selection without harming anyone. It also resulted in finding the much coveted copies of an entire fantasy series and the first book of another sci-fi series.
My MIBF haul this year included:
- The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, which included "The Final Empire", "The Well of Ascension", "The Hero of Ages" and "The Alloy of Law".
- "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
- "World War Z" by Max Brooks
- A re-purchase of "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden. I've been meaning to buy this for years since a friend of mine didn't return my original copy. I've been on the lookout for a copy that didn't feature Zhang Ziyi on the cover.
- A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. This was supposed to be my back up purchase in case I can't find anything on my list, since I didn't have my own copy despite reading the series a while back. Marvin bought the set as a gift for me, since it's an investment towards my role as a real time commentator whenever he watches an episode of the Game of Thrones.
Despite the lack of sleep and random challenges, it was a great book shopping day for me and Marvin (who got himself a great work-related book). I got most of the books that were in my priority list and I didn't even feel the strain of walking for hours (at least until the following day, when my calves started cramping like crazy).
I do have to point out that there were too many towering displays of the Fifty Shades trilogy. Even one would have been too much.
I will just do what I did at the event to get over the sight and just shout... "Book Fair!!".
And I can't wait to randomly shout those words again next year.
Happy reading!!Labels: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Sale, Books, Ender's Game, Event, Manila International Book Fair, Memoirs of a Geisha, Mistborn, Musings, World War Z
