When I went to Singapore last October, I specifically targeted getting a copy of the Usborne Puzzle Adventure Omnibus, a book compilation I’d lost when I was in grade school. I was hoping to find one at one of the bookstore chains there, as my cousin Dianne found a copy for herself in Hong Kong, and I was determined to get one too.
I found a brand new copy in only one bookstore — MPH — and I was hesitant to buy it because it cost SGD 33, which is about P1000 or about US$20. Being the cheapskate I am, I decided to mull it over and come back for it before I went home.
Luckily, my plans to go to Bras Basah Complex (a mini-mall full of quaint, used-book shops right across Raffles Hotel) fell in place, and before an hour was up, I scored a slightly used copy for about SGD13 (P429 or about US$9), because I sweet talked the Indian proprietor to bring it down from SGD16! Not bad for a book I’d been searching half my life for. (But of course I ended up getting a dozen other books I didn’t plan on buying!
I avoided bookstores last December because I’m prone to splurging more at the end of the year (and God knows I have entirely too many books waiting for me at home) but there was one book that I couldn’t pass up buying, because of its sheer entertainment value (for me, at least).
The book is a treat for avid readers who are on Facebook, as it is a compilation of Facebook pages of various literary characters and even some authors, much like 
Last month I attended the launch of Anvil Publishing’s new book, Connecting Flights: Filipinos Write from Elsewhere edited by journalist and author Ruel S. De Vera. I reviewed it for a travel magazine together with some other travel-related books — I’ll have to check if the issue is out already.