Malaysian Reads discussion

Bookerville Putrajaya International Book Fair - MPH PIBF 2015

Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC)
Tue Mar 17 - Sun Mar 22

Link: http://www.mphonline.com/offers/pibf....

This is the 2nd time this fair happened. I missed the first one because I couldn't find the time.

Anyone been to the same book fair last year? How was that one?

I went last year. It was quite a let down, among others it was because:

a) They closed shop at 9pm (even in weekends), during that time so many people were still browsing and some just arrived (like me).

b) Poor signage. We didn't know where the main door, where the exit, where the cashiers. Looking for small sign posts in a hall full of people were not an easy feat.

c) Not enough parking space. We got there at about 7.30pm but could only enter the hall at 8 something because of this.

d) Books were not that cheap. Still quite expensive for the discounted ones. I'm biased because I love Big Bad Wolf book sale so much.

I think those problems happened because it's their first attempt. Maybe this time it will be better. I hope so. But I am not so keen to go this year.

BBW' books are mostly old issues, hence the price.

If I could find the time I'm thinking of going there to browse for books

Ok, so this probably has more similarities with Popular's book fairs than BBW's sales, despite the advertisement claiming "up to 90% and as low as RM 5" - probably just a very small selection then.

I went last year cos I wanna meet Lauren Oliver. I wonder who they will invite this year. Bought 3 or 4 books cos they're new and cheap like rm10 or rm13 like that. Still cheap for new released book.

This seems interesting. Thanks for the updates!

Well, I went there and... it was a bit underwhelming. But I did come away with 3 books.

Calling it a "book fair" is really stretching it. The stalls surrounding the exhibition hall are mostly selling things other than books. The actual exhibition hall is small - not that much bigger than some of MPH's smaller stores.

It has a little of everything, just like their regular stores. But half the floor space is devoted to children's books, toys, stationery, and computer accessories. So it was a "meh" for me.

Two small tables labelled "bargain" has old books haphazardly chucked into paper boxes. The main draw I guess are the selection of hardcover and oversized books that are going at 70% and 90% discount - a mixture of fantasy, paranormal romance, mystery thrillers, crime fiction ...

And in case anyone's interested, they have on sale sets of the recent young adult series - Hunger Games, Divergent, Mortal Instruments series (City of Bones, etc...), and Maze Runner. Going for 40-ish, 50-ish for each set. Add in a couple of young adult and fiction sections with a 20% discount (non-members 15%) notice on the shelves and that's it. The rest you can find in a regular MPH bookstore.

Probably not worth going if you don't live near (relatively) Putrajaya - it's really not much different from the discount fairs that MPH sometimes conduct in shopping malls.

I went last Friday but unfortunately no offers are really attractive to me. I was almost mistakenly thought it was a kids' book festivals. I came back empty handed.

I went last Wednesday and spent rm100+ there hahah but not on books. Well..I bought one book only for rm12 and the rest are the sale stuff lol I bought the ridiculously cheap water bottles, big photo frame, stationery, and their cute tote bag.

I didn't expect a lot from the fair anyway so I'm a happy kid at the end of the day. :)

Haha, speaking of the tote bag, I half expected to be walking out of there with that black bag they gave me for carrying the books. Until a makcik came along and collected it while I was paying

@anne, that book is very interesting! I assure you're not going to be disappointed by Neil gaiman :)

Sayp wrote: "@anne, that book is very interesting! I assure you're not going to be disappointed by Neil gaiman :)"

I sure hope so cos I couldn't finish his American Gods last time lol.