A gift guide for readers
MANILA, Philippines - I spent Christmas Eve of 1998 with Harry, Hermione and Ron. It’s all still very vivid to me. Harry and his cupboard under the stairs, Hagrid and the Knight Bus, Hogwarts Express, Dumbledore’s beard — this was my world while everybody else at home was on a manic cooking-entertaining-gift-wrapping spree. The book was given to me as an early Christmas present, and like every book I had ever been given (from my Big Book of Buttons from when I was three, to the illustrated copy of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland my mom gave me when I was five, to the mangled copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth I loaned from my grade school library and never returned, to my very first Neil Gaiman read, Neverwhere, which was a gift to myself), it was nothing short of magical.
See, when you read a book, you simultaeneously create two streams of memory: first, of the world in between the pages, and second, of the world around you as you read — how you felt, what you were wearing, if it was dark or bright or warm or freezing, what you were drinking. I don’t believe a personalized mug or box of overpriced brownies can do that. They make for thoughtful presents that are truly personalized. As Xandra Ramos-Padilla, managing director of National Book Store (a.k.a. the person responsible for bringing in titles we may not otherwise find here, like The Monocle Guide to Better Living and The Kinfolk Table Cookbook) says, “There’s a perfect book for every person.” It’ll be like introducing your friends to their soulmates — if the book fits, they will be forever grateful.
While you’re at it, why don’t you make that a full care package? Think of a theme, say, Artsy Bohemian Martha Stewart, and build an entire gift box from there — and most of the items you might need to create the perfect present can be found at NBS. This is coming from someone who visits its Glorietta 1 branch thrice a week, just to see what’s new. It’s come to the point where I know exactly how some books are arranged: Bob Dylan’s Stardust first, then Billy Corgan’s Blinking With Fists, then Leonard Cohen’s Let Us Compare Mythologies.
When you go up the second level of the three-story branch, you’ll find children’s and YA books, puzzles and toys, holiday décor and wrappers, a full shelf of pretty notebooks, and a wall of bags in every size. Up another floor are the art and office supplies, all ranging from cute to functional to downright “They-sell-this-here?”
“We don’t sell just books. You’d be surprised to find a lot of nice Christmas gifts here,” says Xandra. Case in point: I found about five different kinds of Frozen themed items in the kids’ section, Yayoi Kusama notebooks and washi tapes, and an anatomically-correct model of the human heart — that’s three different markets right there.
Over seven decades, National Book Store has earned its right to call itself such. It is, in fact, the national bookstore, the go-to shop for any shopping season. Lately, it’s been spreading its reach and going beyond retail, bringing international authors to the country for booklovers to meet. This year, NBS brought in a total of 16 well-loved authors, including Mitch Albom — much to the delight of his massive following — and, most recently, Amy Tan and Chang-Rae Lee, who came to Manila for the Philippine Literary Festival, which National Book Store organized in partnership with Raffles Makati, and bestselling Young Adult author Marie Lu. Very soon, fans will get to see Lang Leav, author of Love & Misadventure and Lullabies, and James Frey, author of Endgame: The Calling.
NBS also recently had the groundbreaking for Mitch Albom’s library in Palo, Leyte. During his visit to the Philippines, Albom went to Leyte, among the provinces devastated by typhoon Yolanda, and donated books. He promised to help build 10 libraries in the town, and for this first one, even got his famous friends and writer of my 1998 Christmas read, J.K. Rowling, to donate books. The library will be igloo-shaped and storm-proof.
For the holidays, NBS is busy with Project Aklat, a book drive that encourages customers to purchase books to donate to underprivileged school children in far-flung areas in the Philippines, where they don’t even have paper in schools. You can give a child the gift of knowledge — and yes, the change to create two streams of memory at a time — for as little as P75. This year, NBS has refurbished 28 public school libraries, and it plans to finish 105 by end of next year.
Few things in the world are as universally liked as books. Even people who say they don’t like to read are just waiting for the right book to come their way. You can be their matchmaker and make them believe again.
