I started attending the Manila International Book Fair three years ago. Back then, I remember not expecting anything much from the event. To my surprise, I took home two bags of books. On the succeeding years, I conditioned myself to limit my purchase. I avoided buying anything fiction. I focused on finding rare books in my wish list. Last year, I only took home one book. I bought my first hardbound coffee table book from Kate Spade. This year, I intend to do the same. I went to the hardbound section of Fully Booked and checked out the coffee table and collectors' series. This section usually contains the relatively expensive books. I'll reveal in my next post what I took home. ;) Meanwhile, I'm sharing here photos from the 39th Book Fair. I hope this will become helpful to those who are planning to join the fair until Sunday. 


There are tickets to the event. To save on costs, you can print the free passes provided by exhibitors. I used National Bookstore's passes, which you can download and print through their Instagram page.  The pdf file of the ticket can be found through this link. You can also print and present this photo from National Bookstore.





I noticed, the organizers managed to maintain the same exhibitors ever since I joined three years ago.


This is the same exhibitor that offered the Book Buffet last year.

This exhibitor has the widest selection of educational textbooks.

Happy to see Tradewinds Bookstore here! You can find a lot of books about local culture and history in this store.


Surprise discovery, there are a lot of hardbound cook books here


Another regular in the book fair, so many children's books here




Ideal for early Christmas shopping for kids


I always visit this exhibitor because they have the nicest Christmas decors. Unfortunately this year, their items are quite limited. I only found a few interesting items. 


The Holy Family inside the antique lamp is an item in my wish list 


The Sisters of St. Paul used to have a lot of non-book merchandise last year. This time, they limited their items to books. 






Hats off to Rex Bookstore for coming up with the best booth design 

As always, the biggest exhibitor is National Bookstore

The usual discount on books is 20%. My cousin shopped a lot and we learned that some books are sold with bigger discounts. And unlike books sold from their last Book Binge Bazaar, copies available are of good quality. 


Found this cute book inside National Bookstore and Anvil Publishing's shared space


Classic Filipino novels of Nick Joaquin given a new set of covers 




Belle de Jour Planners are available in National Bookstore


There is more than enough supply of Jenny Han's box set. These are sold at discounted prices as well.




National Bookstore has great selections of children's books






Other than National Bookstore, my main destination is always Fully Booked. Here are some interesting items I saw from their racks


For the Marvel fanatics


The sketchbook of Loish, I've always been interested with the works of this Dutch artist.


Probably the best time to buy a Harry Potter box set, everything is discounted at 20%


An abundance of Penguin Classics




A little trick, this is cheaper from National Bookstore ;)


Mari Andrew's book will make it as a perfect gift for your #adulting friends Follow her doodles on Instagram to know more about her hilarious thoughts about adulthood


So many stocks of this sought after Mythology book by Edith Hamilton

Always a regular in the Book Fair


#GirlBoss is one of my favorite reads


And some fictions selections








Some selections for kids



And for the kids at heart :)


And my favourite section from Fully Booked



This Louis Vuitton Book is heartbreak. It costs around Php 3500 without the 20% discount yet. I checked out prices in Amazon and Book Depository, it still costs cheaper to purchase here. 

There were also exhibitors on the second floor of the SMX building. Much are dedicated to publications for children's books. 

It's always Adarna House that offers the most collections

And for me, this year's most improved award goes to Summit Books



Their booth has improved! There are books on sale, not just back issues of magazines and discounted copies of Vince's Life. I was able to score a book here, 50% of its original price. Added to this, they offer a lot of freebies.

And my final thoughts on the 2018 #MIBF .... Like I said, I have been going to the MIBF in the last three years. I spent most of my time in National Bookstore and Fully Booked. Though National Bookstore has wider selections, I ended buying from Fully Booked. Although admittedly, some books are cheaper in National Bookstore, on top of the usual 20% discount. As for Fully Booked, I appreciate that they make some of their coffee table, hardbound and rare collectors' item series available for a discount. The most expensive book I saw from Fully Booked was Prada's photo essay book around Php 4,000. With the 20% discount, I guess Php 3,200 is not a bad deal. Unlike in National Bookstore, most books are in the genre of fiction and lifestyle.

While I enjoyed the experience of joining the book fair, I've been seeing similar titles every year. If you frequent both bookstores, books on sale are those that are always available. Books from John Green, David Levithan, Sophie Kinsella, Jenny Han, Paulo Coelho, Kevin Kwan, Harry Potter series are always fully stocked. In my case, my usual destination has always been the coffee table books. My heart badly wanted the Louis Vuitton Catwalk book. It's a great deal with the discount, but my budget does not agree. Heartbreak hahahaha In the end, I took home another fashion coffee table book. I'll show it on my next Sunday post.