Not your ordinary book store
These are my experience with the nearest book store here in our place so as it is the only branch of the store that I’m very familiar of, it does not mean that these are true with its other branches. Oh, don’t expect me to give you the name of the store.
This store is more than a book store, it does not only sell books but it also does have merchandises like office supplies, cards, gift wraps and other things that are not related to books whatsoever displayed on their shelves.
During a month before the classes starts here in the Philippines, this book store sells more notebooks than the books that they have. Don’t forget the other school supplies that an ordinary student would need… bond paper, adhesives, pencils, scissors, pad paper, and so on. And now, as the Christmas holidays is fast approaching, a visit to this store is not complete if you would not see their gigantic Christmas trees for sale, Christmas balls, and artificial Poinsettia flowers.
What I don’t like with this store is that there are less titles to choose from compared with other book stores that I have seen. And if you want to look for a good read, you would have take some time to look for a good one. And to make it a little more complicated, the books are not arranged in a very systematic order. Yes, the books are grouped according to their genre, but they are not arranged alphabetically. In this case, the tactic read first some reviews about the book that you want to buy before proceeding to the book store is not applicable as what was stated above, there are less titles to choose from compared with other stores. So your last resort is to take note of the books that you found in the book store that interests you, read reviews in the internet, and go back to the book store to buy it.
They also have this list of the bestselling books, but most of the time, they don’t have stocks of the books that got to the top ten. How stupid…
*****
Last Sunday I and my family went to Metro Manila to have some quality time. We went to the Block (annex 3 of SM North Edsa, picture bellow). Whoa! The mall was so great. And in this mall, I found a branch of Fully Booked.
State of the art. The Block is one of the newest malls in the country.
I saw thousands and thousands of books! Almost all of the books that I want to have were available on that store! The problem is that I don’t have sufficient funds to buy all of the books that I want. But at least, I was able to grab a copy of the book that I wanted to read since last year. It’s called “About a Boy” by Nick Hornby. The book costs around PHP 500.00!
Here is the updated list of the books that I want to have. Oh, if you want to buy any of these books for me, just notify me, okay?
- For One More Day — Mitch Albom (around PHP 900.00)
- Dogs of Babel — Carolyn Parkhurst
- Eragon
- The Five People You Meet in Hell (a parody) –Rich Pablum
- Harry Potter (Collector’s Items) — JK Rowling (around PHP 3500.00)
- A Spot of Bother — Mark Haddon
- Other books of Nick Hornby
November 21, 2006 @ 11:36 pm
Funnily enough, I think all the bookstores I visit are like that. But then, I rarely go to bookstores nowadays. I’d still want to recreate National BookStore in Cubao when the books cost around 5 pesos. That was like 10 years ago pa? Sad. No wonder lots of people are illiterate. They aren’t given a chance to read something dahil sa sobrang mahal na ng mga libro ngayon.
I’d still root for Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah. It’s cheaper than all the books in your must-read list, but the story is absolutely stunning.
Haha, yeah. I’m kuripot. But then, who says that the most expensive books have the greatest content? I’ve bought books for 10 pesos that have way better stories than Harry Potter.
(No offense meant, of course)
November 22, 2006 @ 3:47 am
Tagal ko nang di nadadaan sa NBS. Hehe.Sa department store aka ngayon eh.
Si Jessica Zafra may parody din - 500 People You Meet in Hell. But I’m not interested in buying. Ewan ko… di ko pa nga tapos yung Twisted 2 and 3 niya.
Tell me what books are good reads. Paubos na ang babasahin ko!
November 22, 2006 @ 6:41 pm
Heh, thanks, thanks. Anyways, the username nga po pala is rakshari. Sorry.
November 23, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
Haha, Goodwill ba ‘yon? :lolz:
Fully Booked has loads of hard-to-find books on its shelves but darn, they’re pricey. I go to either Booksale or NBS for impulsive book buying. Para di ubos pera. I still have to stash away when I want a really nice and expensive book from Fully Booked or Powerbooks (like the Time Traveller’s Wife).
BTW, other than the parody you mentioned, I also saw HP and LOTR parodies at NBS Cubao. I don’t know if they’re any good though.
November 24, 2006 @ 10:41 am
About A Boy is a very good book, good choice! I haven’t read the other novels by Hornby yet, but the films based from his novels are always fun to watch. And that’s good enough for me to pick up a copy of the book. That’s what actually made me want to read About A Boy!
I like Fully Booked a lot, since they have a huge collection of manga (which I don’t really collect, but it’s fun to look at) and rare books. But yeah, it’s expensive. Power Books na lang or NB. Goodwill is okay, but only for school books! Inaalikabok na kasi yung mga merchandise nila dun! Or better, Booksale. It’s fun to scour for older editions/copies of books, even if the pages are already tattered and torn. Take care!
November 24, 2006 @ 11:34 pm
Hi Christian. Thanks for visiting my blog.
I also want a copy of Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. I enjoyed his other books (Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven).
The HP collection is quite expensive but I’m sure it’s worth it.
I’m not familiar with some of the books on your list. I’m sure they are interesting. I’ll check them out when I go to the bookstore. I’m planning to get a new book but haven’t decided on one yet. I’ll consider some of the titles you mentioned.
Thanks for sharing.
November 24, 2006 @ 11:35 pm
i also went to the new bldg of SM North, wow I was so amazed, the architecture is really excellent, sa labas parang maliit but when you go inside parag ang laki dahil sa pagkaka design ng loob
November 25, 2006 @ 4:16 pm
I have no idea about the bookstore. I am, well, just aware of National Bookstore.