Manila International Book Fair, Day 1.

Dead tired, and off to a live shoot in an hour (sleepless!) but I promised to do a post on the first day of the 30th Manila International Book Fair (which runs 10 am- 8pm until Sept. 20 at SMX) so here goes.

I don’t have the energy to write a lot tonight, and I haven’t really gone to all the booths yet, just a general sweep of the place, ergo the mixed bag of today’s sights.

Four more days of the book fair, I hope this post helps those who are planning to go. Happy book fair shopping!

Day 1: Top picks

Limiting it to ten for now, will write about some more in the next days.

1. WS Pacific – has books from P10 up — children’s storybooks and activity books, from early learners up; cookbooks.  This is probably the best booth to get your Christmas shopping done, especially for the kids on your list.

2. National Book Store – great fiction selection at 20% off. For the bargain bin, last year’s was better and cheaper, but still a lot of good deals this year from P100 to below P500-  hardcovers, business books, lifestyle books, cookbooks, children’s books, YA, manga, travel books, and many more. I think I saw several  copies of Shopaholic and Baby (tpb, large format) for about P160, if anyone’s interested. They also have a lot of freebies with purchases. Haven’t shopped at National yet, because I know I will splurge too fast and too soon. Biding my time, hehe. Love that the staff is in Hunger Games gear.

3. Anvil Publishing – now has the new Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (the children’s illustrators’ group I’m part of) book, “Mga Tambay sa Tabi-Tabi: Creatures of Philippine Folklore”, 64 pages full color, at P195. Will come back to buy this book.

with INKies Liza Flores and Abi Goy

Haven’t explored the booth thoroughly yet, but the bargain bin today had assorted titles, the sort you find at the NBS cut-price sale, but the staff said they have more coming so I’ll come back as well. Hoping they throw in some Ambeth Ocampo books in there.

4. Vibal Publishing – has the Lolo Jose book in stock (to those lusting after my copy. P1,000 softcover and P1500 hardcover if I’m not mistaken), and also has Francisco Coching’s El Indio (P600), all 20% off.

5. A Different Bookstore- also a great selection of fiction in bundle deals, like P120 each or 3 for 300. The higher price  points are buy 3 get 1 free I think. Was particularly interested in the P100 pile, which has a lot of YA, manga, and mass market paperbacks.  Ended up getting three books for P100 each: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle); Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming (they have a lot of the 007 titles); and The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille. Will see if they restock tomorrow.

6. Lampara- A lot of bargain books that flew off the racks, from P20 up. I didn’t shop there but stayed to sign some books. Awesome photo booth with a lot of costumes, which I took advantage of with Zeus and Honey, absolutely free! And an even more awesome wall exhibiting works by my fellow INKies!

Serj's paintings

7. Visprint – Caught Siege Malvar and couldn’t resist buying his YA novel Roles (P150 which he nicely autographed for me), as well as the first volume of Trese (P140, I really want to try it out), and got two  free Barbara Cartland books (for my sister’s collection) from their swap bin, and a glossy Zsazsa Zaturnnah poster. Love this new publisher, they have very edgy books!

8. OMF Lit- Caught one of my favorite children’s book authors “Tito Dok” Luis Gatmaitan and couldn’t resist getting a copy signed either! I think this is my 4th signed book of his.

They had a lot of activities going on, including a radio show and storytelling, and they had a bargain pile  with a diverse selection too.

9. Aklat Eklat- I forgot which booth they were housed in, but it was right across Lampara. Really lovely handcrafted, pure leather book covers and bookmarks. Pricey (P400-600 depending on size) but I was salivating over them. I learned I could have a  personalized design impressed in the leather, so I think I’ll have one custom-made in the future instead.

That’s all for now, will post some more MIBF news in the next few days. Meanwhile, I’m off to day 2!