I missed the Manila International Book Fair the last three years.
Three. Years.
2013 was the year I got married in September. 2014 was the year I gave birth and September was my very convenient due date. And 2015 was all the busyness of being a mom and September was all about a 1st birthday party execution.
Lesson learned... don't plan big stuff or have babies in September.
And with the little one moving around on her own for the most part, Marvin and I decided that 2016 can't end without attending the book fair. So, there we were, with a toddler and a seven year old (sister of a friend) in tow, at the opening of the fair on a Saturday. We prayed we would survive it.
You know what? It wasn't bad at all.
There were intimidating lines outside of SMX, but it turned out that one of those was for a book-signing event at the Summit Media section (poor author, I think her hands will never be the same). They let people in to get tickets and wait for the doors to open well ahead of the 10AM opening. And when the doors did open, there was no mad rush like the one I experienced at the National Bookstore warehouse sale (traumatizing... but still worth revisiting... maybe next year).
We went straight to the Fully Booked section and I struggled for a bit with the genre-publishing house-alphabetized by author arrangement. After finding our seven year old companion's picks that were available, I gave the aisles a quick run through to find titles for myself. I debated whether to get the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo or not, because it was a bit more expensive than I anticipated, but eventually decided to add it to the cart. After adding a couple of other titles, we moved on to the Adarna House stall, where I practiced resistance to grabbing all the board books for the little one. Since the National Bookstore section had more people trawling along its many aisles of books, Marvin and I decided I would go there by myself. While he and the kids looked for snacks, I found a few more titles to add to our seven year old book companion's growing collection.
The cashiers are usually swamped at book fairs, but, either we were lucky with the Saturday crowd or the book stores we visited were so much more efficient after years of practice, paying for our haul in every section was quick and painless.
There were few hiccups during our MIBF 2016 visit (including not being able to visit the university and independent presses stalls), but not enough to dampen our enthusiasm for next year. What Marvin and I did decide on, is that we wouldn't be bringing the kids along next year. Even if there's no cause for complaint when it comes to them, we might wait until they're older to bring them again, because the crowds can get intense in some parts (we're looking at you, poorly executed Summit Media book signing event). We did promise to bring their wish lists with us so we can get them the books they want next year.
So, here's a list of our collective haul. Just for me and the kids, though... poor Marvin couldn't find My Angkong's Noodles (the only title on his wish list).
- Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo
- Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak
- The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
- Kapitbahay Kubo by Adarna House & Pergylene Acuña (illustration)
- Ibong Adarna by Adarna House & Jason Sto. Domingo (illustration)
- Sampung Mga Daliri by Adarna House & Hubert Fucio (illustration)
- Mga Hayop sa Filipinas by Adarna House & Iori Espiritu (illustration)
- Nawawala si Muningning by Michael M. Coroza & Tokwa S. Peñaflorida (illustration)
- Ang Ambisyosong Istetoskop by Luis P. Gatmatan, M.D. & Beth Parrocha-Doctolero (illustration)
- Ang Mga Lambing ni Lolo Ding by Michael M. Coroza & Maurice Risulmi (illustration)
- Si Segunda, Noong Panahon ng mga Espanyol by Augie Rivera & Pepper Roxas (illustration)
- Si Juanito, Noong Panahon ng mga Amerikano by Augie Rivera & Jose Miguel Tejido (illustration)
- Si Pitong, Noong Panahon ng mga Hapon by Augie Rivera & Marcus Nada (illustration)
- Si Jhun-Jhun, Noon Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar by Augie Rivera & Brian Vallesteros (illustration)
- The BFG, The Witches, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
- The Horse and His Boy, and Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Labels: Adarna House, Book Sale, Book Series, Books, Event, Fantasy, Fiction, Manila International Book Fair, Musings, Reading List
