Coffeespoons

Haemin Sunim was in Manila last weekend for a couple of events: one in UP, care of the UP Korea Research Center, and the other at Fully Booked BGC, who was responsible for inviting Haemin Sunim to Manila in the first place.  I spent a decent amount of time with Haemin, given the job, and I can honestly say his presence is kind, calming, and also quite fun. It was also the first time for me to be at an author event that began with a mindfulness exercise, and let me tell you, I think I needed it.  Haemin was also really engaged with and gracious to the people who had their books signed by him. After, he talked about how moved he was by people who told him how his books helped them. Honestly looking forward to when Haemin decides to come back, which I think he wants to when he has a new book coming out. And hopefully then, he gets to visit other places aside from Metro Manila. 

The nice people from Fully Booked invited me to the Tintin Shop Manila launch last June 25. I've been the recipient of many kindesses from Fully Booked, all because I shop at their store a lot, so I figure I should return the kindness by posting the pictures I took during the event. I am leagues away from being an awesome photographer, both in terms of composition and just actually remembering to take photographs. So, anything here that looks sucky is entirely my fault and should not reflect on the awesomeness of Fully Booked BGC's Tintin section, which, I am told, can more than rival the Tintin Shop in Singapore. The reception table. Feel free to use the hashtag #tintinshopmnl on Twitter .

One of the videos in Fully Booked's What's My Story? campaign. I gush about John Williams' Stoner .:) In the country I live in, there are two major bookstore chains. One has been around for more than 50 years, devotes a large part of its business to selling school and office supplies, and definitely has wider penetration. The other is less than 20 years old, has a more diverse selection of titles, but caters to clientele with larger disposable incomes. I'd say both do their part in pushing a reading culture in my country. Whereas one has ventured into publishing popular local titles and selling a lot of other titles for cheap, the other provides its customers titles not usually found in the other store and actively engages its reading community. Now, I'm very big on engaging the reading community. As a reader, I like to watch what companies in the book industry do to engage their readers. As a heavy user of social media, I also like to watch these compani...