This, my friends, is a personal library.
Once upon a time, I lived in the Makati area. And not just any Makati area, I lived a hop, skip, jump and five minutes' walk to Greenbelt. Around the same time, Lauless was studying in a nearby school, but sometimes our schedules don't work out, and our books/mixed-tape trade get suspended.
But something magical helped us out. Its name: The Armchair Reader. And right about now you're thinking, oh, yay, another story from J of how much easier her life was in the year 2000 (actually, more along 1998 - 2001; and, well, it was). But there is a point to this.
The question is if I'll ever get to it.
Anyway, The Armchair Reader, if you don't know, was this specialty book shop that allowed members to rent out books and magazines from the shop, with the option to buy. Situated near the Glorietta-facing entrance of Parksquare II's ground floor, it was a delight. There was a membership fee (of course) and I would go there after school and sit for hours just reading.
Eventually, Lauless and I figured out that since I drop by the damn place practically every day anyway, why don't we just drop off our stuff there, and have the other pick it up?
And dearfrakkinggod it worked. The nice people at the front desk were nice enough to allow it (that I had to maintain my membership notwithstanding), and Lau and I got to have our fun. (Also: free Milo. Actually free coffee, but why have coffee when Milo's also available?)
They closed shop I think in 2001 (because life sucks that way), and I have missed it so. Powerbooks and Fully Booked aren't the same, since they're basically a book store and you can't borrow a book you're dubious about and just send it back.
Plus Powerbooks no longer has their comfy couches.
Where's a good public library when you need one? (The Filipinas Heritage Library doesn't count.)
Additional browsing:
- Bookmooch
- Shelfari
The article on the owner of the awesome personal library is in the Examiner website.
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