Where to find Books in Manila?

 Q: What is a bookstore?

          A:  A bookstore is a store where books are bought and sold. 

Here in the Philippines we have different bookstore to choose from. You can visit them at the nearest shopping center or town center. Some bookstores sell second hand or used books which cost as much as half the price of the new one. Other bookstore sells online and offer delivery services on books purchased online. I do love reading books and sometimes I find it hard looking for some titles. So I decided to look for the different bookstores here in the Metro (Manila). And here are they: Happy browsing!

 National Bookstore: The most famous bookstore in the Philippines and also the largest with 92 branches and still growing. It is located mostly on shopping malls. They also sell school and office supplies. They also sell books online and delivery services. The bookstore called Bestsellers is also owned by NBS. 

Powerbooks:  It is a specialty bookstore that carries wide range of bestselling fiction and nonfiction novels. It also sells other books such as Religion and Philosophy, Psychology, Lifestyle, Architecture, Gender and Culture and a lot more. 

Fully Booked: Is a specialty bookstore that carries a wide and comprehensive selection of books. Their stores are stylish and designed to suite the readers’ ambiance. They currently have six stores  in the metropolis. Their flagship store located at Bonifacio High Street at The Fort which is a five storey building that houses a movie theater and other function rooms.

 Goodwill Bookstore: It primarily carries textbooks and reference books. It has five branches in Manila and four in the provinces.   

A Different Bookstore: It was one of the first independent bookstores to open its doors to the Philippine market in with its first outlet 1994.  The company’s main thrust was to provide its readers with a “different” selection of books, and through the years the company has come to realize that its bookstores have made big differences in the lives of its readers. Approximately 90% of all bookstore inventories are imported from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Merriam & Webster Bookstore: The books that they sell are mostly reference books for primary, secondary and tertiary education. Like NBS, they also have a variety of school and office supplies. 

Popular Bookstore: They have library and reference books, Specialized and general books on Arts and Literature, Engineering and the Sciences, Film, Gender studies, Health and Sports, Management and Finance, Mass Communications, Philosophy, Political and Social Sciences, Psychology and many more. Plus hundreds of books about the Philippines published by commercial and independent publishers, government and non-government institutions, and university press. 

Bookwagon: Book Wagon is a unique specialty bookstore that offers recommendable and often award-winning children’s books to a discerning public, as well as quality and original music scores to the local market. Book Wagon opens its treasure trove of books written by renowned and acclaimed authors like Eric Carle, Cynthia Rylant, Maurice Sendak, Mem Fox, Leo Lionni, Margaret Wise Brown, Don and Audrey Wood, Dr. Seuss. 

Rex Bookstore: It publishes law books, textbooks for high school, pre-elementary and elementary education. 

Bound Bookshop:  The owners of Bound bookstore are National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairman and Philippine Graphic editor-in-chief Inday Espina-Varona, ABS-CBN TV broadcaster Bernadette Sembrano, NUJP secretary-general and New York Times stringer Carlos “Caloy” Conde, NUJP officers May Rodriguez and Rowena Carranza-Paraan. This bookshop sells very affordable books that they say that is cheaper than other bargained books. They are located at 105-A Scout Castor Street, Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City 1103, Philippines. 

Booksale: Is a bargained books and magazine store. They have lot of novels from fiction to non-fiction. The prices of their books are almost 50-70% from the brand new one. Booksale is located on most shopping malls in the metro. If you love reading books but you have a tight budget this is a must see bookstore. But if you can’t make it to the store, don’t worry they are also selling online. They also have rare and medium rare books. 

Filbars: Although they are mainly in comics, local and international magazines. Some of their store also sells second hand books. 

Book For Less: Another bookstore that sells bargain but quality books. They also support book donation drives and participate on book fairs. They already have 10 branches in the metro. 

Chapters and Pages: It is also a bargain bookshop that sells very much affordable books. 

Bookay-Ukay: Book + Ukay Ukay= Bookay Ukay. Located at UP Village, they offer quality bargain books. You can also trade, sell, lend and borrow books. They also have a freedom board that you can free to write anything when you visit the store.

The Book Fan: An online bookstore that offers wide variety of books and comics. 

Libros Filipinos: Another online bookstore that is specialized in Philippine books, journals, magazines, videos, music, and CD-ROMs. 

 Arkipelago Books: It carries books by prominent Filipino and Filipino American writers. We have books under different genres including architecture, arts and culture, children’s books, dance, film, gay lesbian transgender, history, literature, martial arts, music, novels, plays, poetry, reference, short stories, social science, theater, visual arts and young adults. offers services that include author readings, book distributions, book searches, book signings, community bulletin boards, and special orders.

Recto Ave:  Selling books from A - Z.

UPDATE:  Updated list is found here http://fullyfeatured.blogspot.com/2009/07/where-to-find-books-in-manila.html