It’s now my second time attending the Manila International Book Fair and this time around, I knew the books that I wanted to have, which meant that it was a straightforward event altogether. Even though it drained my pockets a bit (the amount I spent is already a month’s worth of rent), I am satisfied with the haul that I obtained.

But first, the experience. Obviously, the line outside was extremely long, as hordes of bok lovers wanted to have the opportunity to buy books and fill up their libraries.

Last year, I didn’t know the books that I wanted, so I just went on a rampage by getting all the books that I could afford. It turned out that some of the books were…meh, so even though I read them, they left no impression on me whatsoever. Besides, I made the mistake of not using the trolley, which meant that my friend and I suffered a lot carrying those books through the long, winding queue.

This year, I came with quite a number of targets in mind, so I knew exactly where to look. The trip to the counter was smoother…and I had my books in the trolley!

There were two more books, but they weren’t mine. 😀

Now, time to go to the books that I bought.

  1. Liu Cixin (2 books from the Three-Body problem series)

If you haven’t heard of this Chinese author, that’s fine – because he’s just starting to make his mark here in the Philippines. Besides, I don’t know of many people who read science fiction, let alone hard SF.

The thing is that he knows how to make a point in his stories…and his science is so subtle that you won’t even notice that it has a lot of scientific principles in it. That’s the thing that made me fall in love with the works of this author.

Besides, winning the highest science fiction awards in the world – as an Asian – is a big, big, big, big plus.

Personally, I’m one book away from completing my collection after buying these books. Thus, I can say that it was an achievement that counted towards having a good library of books.

Childhood dream come true?

  1. Dune

This is required reading. I want to write better, I want to know the art well and I want to read more science fiction.

Might just as well start with the classics, no?

  1. Pharos

It comes from the New York Times-bestselling series “The Horus Heresy”, which is about as grimdark and Warhammer as you can get. I wanted a more modern and popular sample of military science fiction…and I do happen to write a lot of fanfics as well as articles for one of the largest mech gaming sites today.

Wink wink – want Russian power? You’ve got to learn your stuff.

  1. Science Fiction Collection

Learn from the best, they say?

Besides, I just want to read more science fiction and be amazed by the imaginative powers of these authors.

Enough said.

  1. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I made it a tradition to buy at least one non-fiction title, so I might just as well go with something that is close to my heart.

Flow is basically a story of creativity, of how a creative mind works.

This has become a modern classic…and I recommend people to read this book.


So that’s it!

Overall, I enjoyed this year’s Manila International Book Fair…and I do hope to see more in the succeeding years!

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