I can haz books?

The past week has been a blur of spending quality time with my family, badminton games (with me being a spectator only, of course), catching up with friends-I-miss-so-much, eating out with friends-I-never-get-tired-of-even-if-we-see-each-other-everyday until my tummy gets almost ready to burst from too much food and laughter, and shopping for *ehem* essentials like toiletries and groceries and a new bag.

Now I love shoes, bags, and other pretty thingamajigs, but I don't think it can compare with my love for books. I learned how to read at a very early age because I wanted to read the bedtime stories my Grandma used to read me myself. Once I felt how it was like to be transported to another dimension just by flipping a page, there was no turning back. Before I became known as Miss Plant-Myself-in-Front-of-the-Computer, I was Miss Bury-My-Nose-in-a-Book first and foremost!

August always either makes me very happy or very sad (explanation why it is so on my next post, hopefully) but I still eagerly await for it because National Bookstore and Powerbooks hold their annual BIG sale from the latter part of July until the most part of August! I swear I can stay there for hours and even more so during sales as I cannot decide which books to get! A couple of weeks ago I got Nina Garcia's The Little Black Book of Style for only P445, and that was only because it was the first book I was able to grab before my friend rushed me out of the store! Tsk. I know I should be saving up because our trip to Singapore is only a couple of months away(!) but who can resist the lure of books? Not me, apparently.

Earlier, I read from Bookmarked that today is the last day of reservation for Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins' last book for The Hunger Games trilogy. The book will be released worldwide on August 25 and reserving a copy guarantees a free Mockingjay shirt. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I haven't actually read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire (the first two books in the trilogy) yet. I have been meaning to do so - mainly because it was recommended by my Sinister Sister Jinna - but because I was busy with complicated matters like those of my heart's I never found the time to pick my copy. Now that I have more than enough time in my hands again I figured this is the best time to get started. So, after work today I trooped to the National Bookstore branch at the UP - Ayala Technohub (with my good friends/ officemates Frank and Mich) and reserved myself a copy. I also wanted to get the first book but they didn't have the hardbound ones anymore. The Mockingjay I reserved is a hardbound copy and I wanted my books to be uniform so I decided to go to another NBS branch at Commonwealth Avenue to see whether they have it. See how passionate I am about doing things once I set my mind to it? :D

The NBS branch in Commonwealth is one of my favorites as it has two floors, like a big, sprawling library full of wonderful books. I am not kidding when I say I spent over an hour browsing the shelves. I did manage to get a hardbound copy of The Hunger Games but I decided to look around a bit more since I had the whole afternoon free.

Practicality started to wriggle its rear in my mind though. I would save P400 if I get the paperback instead of the hardbound copy. I mulled it over while walking through the store but it proved even more unhelpful.

Mike Gayle's The To-Do List

I really wanted to buy this as it looks like a nice read. Basically, an almost-forty year old guy makes a list of more than a thousand items of things he wanted to do but never got around to starting. His aim is to finish the list. Once he does, only then will he be a "certified" adult.

Narnia Chronology: An Interactive Timeline

Have I ever told you I love C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia? Not yet? But I really do!

I walked around the store in circles debating with myself whether I should get them or not. I have the cash, yes, but as Mich said, "Having more than enough money does not mean you should spend all of it." The temptation of whipping out the plastic card was almost too irresistible, but after a few breaths (and a little heartbreak) I put the books down and paid for just the paperback copy of The Hunger Games. Yes, practicality won over that, as well. I can get the two other books some other time.

On my way out of the store though, I stopped dead on my tracks when I saw this:

Barney Stinson's The Bro Code (as seen on CBS's How I Met Your Mother)

I recognize that opportunities like this are very rare.

Notice the receipts; five minutes after paying for my first purchase, I immediately paid for the second book :D

Neil Patrick Harris as playboy Barney (sidenote: he and his partner are having twins by a surrogate mother soon!) is just perfect! I love love love How I Met Your Mother (an HIMYM-inspired post here before I started watching the series) and have been eyeing the Amazon listings of tie-up books for quite some time now! This reinforces what Paulo Coelho in one of my favorite books The Alchemist said, when you really want something, the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. You can't argue with that ;)

New additions to my family of books

Barney wins

Read any good books lately? :)