Is There Any Sort Of A 'book Culture' Here In The Pi?

[Dave Hounddriver]

Last I spoke to Him

 

Last time I spoke to him, (well actually just listened as he was doing all the talking), he said "You people need to get out of the hallway.  I don't care that the immigration office is full, I need to get by and you foreigners are blocking my way" and he said it loudly and obnoxiously.  Good to hear that he speaks nicely to some people, I didn't take him for a friendly sort so never went into his bookstore.

 

:bash:   :hystery:

Edited February 21, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver

[Jack Peterson]

 

Last I spoke to Him

 

Last time I spoke to him, (well actually just listened as he was doing all the talking), he said "You people need to get out of the hallway.  I don't care that the immigration office is full, I need to get by and you foreigners are blocking my way" and he said it loudly and obnoxiously.  Good to hear that he speaks nicely to some people, I didn't take him for a friendly sort so never went into his bookstore.

 

:bash:   :hystery:

 

 Wrong time of the Month Obviously, :hystery:  Odd thing to say as a Foreigner to other Foreigners What?  

[Queenie O.]

My husband and I both always liked to read, so shipping a lot of books from the States was a big priority for us living out in the province away from the city.  If anyone is planning on making a move here, and loves books, it's a good idea to ship them here in Balik Bayan boxes.

 

I think that books are really a luxury item for the average Filipino, so only people that can afford to buy books do. I always give children here books, and they always love getting them.   I have an e-reader, and sometimes buy and get free books that way, but nothing takes the place of a real book I think. 

 

National Bookstore has pretty slim pickings, in my opinion, but the used bookstore in SM City Cebu has good used books and magazines having to do with many subjects.

I even noticed that Lazada sells books on-line, but none that interested me.

I noticed that books sold here new are rather mainstream and conservative, so anything a little more "out there" or unique won't be found here. I'm a huge vintage pulp fiction fan, so without a big personal collection, I'd be out of luck! lol

Queenie

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I sold 7 bookshelves full of books before moving. I brought maybe 20 books with me... painful ha ha.  I still had the original Star Wars book I bought in Junior high school (1977/78).  Selling my CDs was no biggie as I backed all them up as MP3.  Could not scan in all my books, but I downloaded a few thousand over the years. I have plenty to read but miss the feel of a real book.

[Queenie O.]

What a pity The Op or any others are not in Dumaguete. We have a Husband ( Foreigner) & Wife (Pinay) run a book Exchange store or lend (Like a Library) with some 3.000 + books, a Couple of Doors away from our Immigration office

 

Wow--that's really something!  Libraries and places like that one, are really few and far between here.. I haven't witnessed anything like that in Cebu--you guys are lucky:)

[Dave Hounddriver]

anything a little more "out there" or unique won't be found here

 

Disclaimer:  It has been years since I went there and did this but,

 

There used to be bins of clearance books in White Gold.  They seemed to be books that were not selling in their countries of origin so they were sent here for discount sales.  I found some gems there in the past.  Its not far from SM Mandaue/Cebu so you might want to take a look.  

[scott h]

Do you know of people who have personal libraries here? I don't.

 

Short answer, No.

 

Long answer, I have kept almost every book I read for 20 years or so, and was very fortunate that I was able to bring them all with me. We designed our house with lots of book cases for them. When my wife entertains her high school and university friends almost with out exception they all make comments about them (and when they do, my wife points at me as the culprit). After 3 years I have had only one of her friends express an interest in reading and ask to borrow a book (which was never returned naturally).

 

I have 4 Filipina nieces, 2 of them are voracious readers 2 are not. The father of the two reading girls is in the Filipino Department of foreign affairs and pretty much grew up overseas (6 years each in Australia, Hong Kong and Guam USA). The two who grew up in the Philippines don't touch books.

 

I happen to live just down the street from our city "library". Now Paranaque is the largest city (I have been told) by area in Metro Manila. Most of the books are old and the library is located above the fire department. 

 

A lot of time when I take my daily walk I will take a paperback with me and read for a few minutes if I find a nice tree. I can not count the number of times that people come up. They don't ask "what are you reading?" 99% of the time its "ah sir, you are reading the bible?"

 

So the bottom line is an unqualified no, this is not a "reading culture" here.

[Queenie O.]

  There used to be bins of clearance books in White Gold.  They seemed to be books that were not selling in their countries of origin so they were sent here for discount sales.  I found some gems there in the past.  Its not far from SM Mandaue/Cebu so you might want to take a look.  

 

Thanks Dave--a Filipina friend recently told me that I would like the kitchenware in White Gold, and I had been meaning to go there anyway, so I'll take a look. :)

Queenie

[Queenie O.]

A lot of time when I take my daily walk I will take a paperback with me and read for a few minutes if I find a nice tree. I can not count the number of times that people come up. They don't ask "what are you reading?" 99% of the time its "ah sir, you are reading the bible?"

 

I noticed that on Lazada's website and at National Bookstore there are a lot of books that have a religious bent, for example off the top of my head: "God in the Workplace" or " A  prayer for Every Hour". Granted this is a very religious country, but that isn't always the genre of books that I'm looking for in a new book purchase:)   I can see that that would be a common question.\ from someone.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

What a pity The Op or any others are not in Dumaguete. We have a Husband ( Foreigner) & Wife (Pinay) run a book Exchange store or lend (Like a Library)

When I was in the Navy many bases had a 'take a book/leave a book' area. They actually liked when ships came in and swapped some books out, as it gave them something new to read.

 

I talked to my wife about trying to setup something like that here and she said it would not work. She said the first Filipino that saw it would steal every book of the shelf and that would be the end ha ha....   :tiphat: