If you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t think it was even there.

I’ve heard about this new bookstore from friends called Booktopia. I wasn’t really interested in it, actually; it was in Libis and Libis isn’t the easiest place to go to if you don’t have a car. Commuting from Poject 8 would be quite tedious and taking a cab is expensive.

However, my interest perked up when I found out that they can special order books for you. I’m just 3 books short of a mystery series I’m collecting and I’m getting tired of scouring through every Booksale branch. I emailed them with my order, and a week after, I get a reply with the cost of each book (shipping cost included) and when their next shipment will be. Elated, I went to Libis to pay for my downpayment.

It’s on the same side as the Eastwood entrance, before Citibank, if you’re coming from Makati. It’s in the same building as Pizza Hut, and as I said earlier, the store itself is hard to spot if you didn’t know it’s there. The building is pretty plain, but once you get inside their store, you’re in book heaven.

The store is what you’d like your bookstore to be: books shelves filled with books of differnt titles (unlike other bookstores where they fill the shelves with books of the same title), comfy seats and coffee tables, and soft music that won’t distract you from the book you’re reading (I didn’t even mind that they were playing Christmas songs). While their prices may be slighty higher than the other bookstores in Metro Manila, they also have a section for pre-owned books in fairly good condition.

There were only 2 Booktopia staff when I went there, and neither one of them followed me around like the pesky salesperson in other stores. While other bookstores put up “No private reading” signs, Booktopia encourages their patrons to “Keep reading.”

I picked up a pre-owned Secret Garden book by Frances Hodgson Burnett and brought it to the counter. While waiting for the sales assistant to write up the invoice, the friendly supervisor (I think he’s the supervisor) chatted with me. One of the books I ordered is out of stock, and he promised that once their supplier has it in stock, he’d text or call me. How’s that for service?

I don’t know if all the Booktopia books have this, but when I opened my book when I got home, there was a Booktopia bookmark inserted just inside the cover. Just how cute is that?

Nope, I don’t think going to Libis would be tedious anymore.

Booktopia
2/F Intrepid Plaza
Libis, QC
www.booktopia.com.ph