Snaps and Loots: 31st Manila International Book Fair

Primetrade Asia, one of the biggest local event organizers, along with Hero TV delivered the Best of Anime 2010, held at the SMX Convention Center. It featured a lot of activities of gaming and cosplaying. There were also several exhibitors that were selling toys and other geeky merchandises.

Although, that was just a co-part of a much bigger event that was being held —- The 31st Manila International Book Fair.

Normally, I’d enter the convention that caters most to my interests — comic books, action figures and cheap buys on top of those! Gatherings such as the Best of Anime are usually filled with these, but for a change, I went inside the book fair just to see what’s-what.

Now I’m not exactly a reader, but I think I used to be one. I’m not that keen on what’s the latest books on the shelves, which author’s hot nowadays and I can’t event last a day reading science fictions nor novels anymore (there’s TV and the cinemas for that!). One thing I know though is that there’s always a book for anyone.

Upon entering the venue, you’ll be greeted with the huge crowd rummaging through piles and piles of books. I wasn’t able to take a photo of the crowd but just to give an idea, here’s a photo I stole via a quick google search. If the owner of the photo somehow stumbles upon my page, please lemme know so I can acknowledge your snap. :)

I went with my buddy, Dustin. Here he is walkin-a-dandy from booth to booth. :)

Lots of walk-ins at the Christian Bookstore

A lady checking out the educational textbooks

Here are some interesting stuffs I stumbled upon. Modern Etiquette for Women, Ha!

And a Hundred Most Disgusting Things on the Planet. Ack!

Whaat…?

Piles of p99 Music Sheets

Huge selections of Art Related books as well from stall to stall

Some photography books we skimmed about. A bit pricey, but the creative techniques and the gallery inside are worth the money.

Dustin paying for his finds!

After checking out the stalls and scavenging for potential buys, I circled the area once more and dug through the bargains again from National Book Store and other booths.

Here’s a quick snap of my loots:

I got Ticket to Ride by Larry Kane and Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone by John Blaney. I can’t believe how huge of a discount I got for these, both have a tag of about p1300 to p1400 but I only paid less than a thousand bucks. Sweet! I was expecting their price to play just around the 20% off mark. 

Ticket to Ride covers the ‘64 tour of The Beatles. It chronicles the interviews and experiences of Larry Kane alongside the journey of the band throughout and outside America. He’s the only American reporter that was allowed to travel with them at the time. The book works like a biography of some sort for me. A nice read overall if you want to learn more about the Fab Four's career.

Lennon and McCartney : Together Alone cites the works and recordings of The Beatles’ head writers. It fails as a biography but it’s fun learning about what John and Paul had been doing after the band’s breakup. Lots of informative details and research can be found about their solo projects throughout.

I always wanted to try my hands on caricature so I bought a book about it. I gotta keep myself busy and productive too at times, you know. Plus, it was dirt cheap! Heh.

A weird buy for me — a copy of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. One of the most praised novel out there.

Lastly, I got me a few volumes of Pugad Baboy comic books from one of the stalls. I enjoyed reading these when I was in high school. I still have some of them somewhere in my room, better look for em soon to avoid buying doubles.

I’m really glad that I attended the fair. This is probably the largest book related gathering I’ve ever been too. No wonder their on the 31st year already. I’ll definitely add this to list of conventions I attend every year. One more to look forward to!

See you next year, MIBF!