Friday, October 25, 2013

ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: Pinoy Book Drop


Pinoy Book Drop Details
Book: One Day (David Nicholls)
Place: Noriter, Taft Avenue, Manila
Time: around 4:10 PM

Although my blog (in)activity may not show it, I'm really excited for the upcoming 3rd Filipino ReaderCon. This year it will be on November 9 at the Rizal Library at the Ateneo. As a countdown to the event, we're asked to share our answers on different book-related questions every Friday, and this week, it's all about a brilliant concept called the Pinoy Book Drop.
Printing the bookplates. I had grand plans of leaving three but so far I've only done one.

I actually had a hard time picking a book for the drop. By the time I had printed out the bookplates, I still hadn't decided. On one hand, the book drop was a good way to pass on an unwanted book that could be loved by someone else. But on the other, I didn't want to leave something that no one would pick up because it was extremely old and tattered.

The book drop was a great opportunity to spread the love, so another requirement I wanted to meet was to leave a book I fairly liked. I was going through my books and while a lot of them were good candidates for such the drop, I wasn't sure if I could find these editions again. In the end, I went with a book that 1) I could part with but was still in good condition, 2) could be easily replaced, and 3) I liked enough to share. I will not grieve over its absence from my shelves, but I think someone might appreciate it more.
I slipped the bookplate behind the plastic cover.

It was easy to decide where to leave it. A coffee shop seemed like a good location, since there are a lot of people talking and reading and looking for tables. I brought it with me in case I was going to be in the Alabang area. But then I found myself in front of my old university, where there were a lot of cafes and tambayans, so I thought this was a good place as any. I picked Noriter, a little Korean-inspired cafe very near the LRT. Its patrons were students who were studying or writing reports, so I was a bit more confident that someone would pick up One Day.
Noriter! This side is next to the windows so there weren't a lot of people on there.

One thing that I was afraid of was someone coming up to tell me I had left something. I didn't realize it then, but Noriter's colorful tables were a good camouflage for the book. Plus with all the students around (and all their books and papers on the tables), there seemed a little chance of that happening. I just bussed my table so that the servers didn't have to do it for me (and discover my book drop)!
Goodbye, dear book!

I didn't check back on who might have found it, but I'm crossing my fingers that one of the students brought it home to read. Not only would it be a welcome break from studying, but I think it's got a lot to say about friendship and love and growing up that would appeal to people at a turning point in their lives. I really hope my copy finds a good home.

8 comments:

Kat said...

That's one book I'd love to find and read! Also, the cafe looks really nice.

dementedchris said...

@saberkite
It's super cute! To my left (not in picture) are low tables on a loft-type space and to my right were enclosed spaces that looked like bunk beds :D Very near La Salle's South Gate!

Louize DG said...

Cafe Noriter is a perfect choice! :)

Louize DG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dementedchris said...

@Louize

I wish I could have gotten one of those 'double-deck' corners! :D

Jinky said...

Hehe, the book did blend in! --Hmm, I could part with this book ..didn't love it as much as many seem to.

dementedchris said...

@Jinky
I tried picking a book I really liked for the book drop but I started stressing over 1) what would happen to the book if no one picked it up; and 2) how I could replace it with the same edition.

Najee said...

Do you have any news on what happened to the book you dropped?