1. Do you have any recommended bookstores in Manila? What about libraries?
The more well-known bookstores in Manila:
National Book Store - the largest chain of bookstores in the Philippines. 30-40% of their merchandise is books and reading materials.聽 The rest are school and office supplies. Their biggest store is in Glorietta 1.聽 My kids are fans of Mo Willems. I was really surprised that I found "Let's Go for a Drive!" there just a few weeks after its release in the US.
Powerbooks - also owned by National Book Store, but their focus is more on books rather than school supplies. If you can't find a certain book at National Book Store, try looking for it at Powerbooks.
2. Are Filipinos into books? In general.
In general, no.聽 If you give a book to a Filipino as a gift, it's probably going to end up in a shelf unread, unless it's something that particularly interests them, like say a cook book, travel book, parenting, hobby, religious, self-help, etc.
3. Where is the best place to buy Kindle, especially Paper White? (or you may let me know if anyone wants to sell the brand new/ pre-loved stuff : D)聽
Look online, like in olx.com.ph. I'm interested in getting a Kindle too. But I might just order it from amazon and have a relative or friend bring it with them when they visit the Philippines.
4. Do you know where can I find The Lion and The Bird by Marianne Dubuc? If you have one and want to sell it, just buzz me, ok? : )
Try National Book Store at Glorietta 1. If you can't find it, ask the sales people if it's available at another branch. If it's not at National Book Store, try Powerbooks.
If it's not in those stores, you can order it through National Book Store and they can have it shipped to them, which you can then pick up from their store. But this service is a bit expensive. It would be cheaper, I think, to order it from amazon and have it shipped to you.
5. What's your favorite book(s)? I love The Little Prince and Sherlock Holmes. I also enjoy something like Freakonomics, Paul Arden's, and Malcolm Gladwell's. Sadly, I didn't bring my books, not even one, ugh. So, it's quite lonely here
My family loves books, and we have lots of them. So sorry that you left your books back home.
I don't have a favorite book. I do like reading children's fantasy books. I have a library at home in that genre with classics like The Princess and the Goblin (which was the book that got me into reading at age 9) to the Borrowers series to recent literature like Harry Potter (I read the first 4, but the 5th was just tedious and wordy,聽 I kept falling asleep. Don't feel like reading the last two without reading first the 5th. Maybe someday I will.)
I've read many classics when I was young, Dickens, Jane Austen, Harper Lee, etc.聽 Of the more recent literature, I like the two books by Dan Brown, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I like the books' fast pace and the way the chapters flow into each other. The stories, by the way, are fiction to me. A week ago, I re-read The Bourne Identity. I first read the book soon after I saw the movie. I'm glad that I saw the movie first before reading the book, otherwise, I would not have enjoyed watching the movie.
I read to my kids almost every day. They really like Mo Willems's books. I miss the libraries back in the US. I read to my kids in the same way as the story time lady back in SF. Animated, dramatic, acting out the voices of the characters and the kids also join in. It's really fun for both me and the kids.