Yesterday, I decided to drop by Booksale at Robinsons Place Iloilo City proper, as I waited for the meetup with my friend with regards to his purchase of a gaming controller. It was just purely to spend the time and also to check some book titles that might get my interest. The place was small with a few fellow book reader checking on their desired topics.

Unsurprisingly, I eventually found one after digging through some of the books in the softbound section. The book title is Land Development, and after checking the table of contents, the topics were timely and coincided with our DURP subject on P231-Site Planning. More so, it was ideally related to our group project, which was the site plan for socialized housing for the municipality of President Roxas, Capiz.

The cost is around P205 and below is the book cover.

It was a bit pricey, but nonetheless information provided would prove to be useful to my work and to our office. The subject site planning might be done for the semester, but the plans for future projects that the Iloilo City LGU will implement will have this book as a viable reference.

For now, I might have this placed in my workstation at the city hall and casually read on the topics one by one during my free time.

I have been checking books at the nearest Booksale branch whenever I drop by the mall, either it is at SM City or at Robinsons Iloilo. I used to buy before those book related to productivity, self-success and related life hacks, but recently came upon their Fantasy novel shelves. The intention was to search for old Magic novels that were published as part of their then-named Fatpack products. It already stopped when I started collecting Fatpack of each Magic set and so my chances of digging those novels are from their piles of used books.

My friend Johann initially posted a picture of a novel book from the Guildpact set which he found in one of the Booksale branches. I was not able to verify which branch so I just tried my luck on checking the book when I dropped by SM City last week. The bad news was there was no sign of that novel and instead, I found books from the Dragon Lance series which was released in the 80s. I chose the one with the cheapest price, and it was titled as Darkness & Light, a Volume 1 Prelude story. Here is a pic below.

Now, my next concern is the time to finish reading this book and to think that I still have a lot of pending reads with the previous books I bought. The weekend is my only chance, but then again there are errands I need to finish. I guess I needed to plan out my time carefully for those two days.

So recently I have decided to build my mini library here in the HQ and so I am occasionally passing by bookstore to check some interesting books. One of which that I recently purchased was a book guide for long distance running. It was authored by Sean Fishpool and I bought it for only 25 pesos at Booksale in SM City Iloilo.

I just started reading it today as I am currently not done with the 48 Laws of Power which I started to read about a month ago. For a short share, here are what running can do for you, which excerpts from Beginners Guide to Long Distance Running:

Weight Loss – Running burns calories faster than any other activity.

Better Health – it boosts your immunity to illness, as well as improve blood cholesterol level. Also it can fight diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis.

Less Stress – runners are less prone to depression than sedentary people. This is partly because of the endorphins that the body releases but also because they enjoy the benefits of achieving something.

Confidence – you will feel better because you know that you are fit and motivated and achieving your running goals. This as a result will inspire you in other areas of life.

Quiet Time – forget about your to-do list for 40 minutes- simply breathe fresh air and enjoy being alone with or without your thoughts.

More Energy and a Better Body – this will help your body work more efficiently, with improved metabolism and cell regeneration. Your body’s lean-to-fat ratio will improve and your calves, thighs, hips and buttocks will become stronger and shapelier.

Healthier lifestyle – this is one of my main reasons why I exercise. The results are adopting better sleeping habits and removal of vices like smoking and drinking.

A Knowledge of your Body – you will discover what kinds of effort your body responds to best. If you race or do speedwork, you will find out how your body reacts to pressure.

I guess I should restart my evening run routine as soon as possible.

I have been a fan of reading books back in my grade school and early high school days, which was when Internet was not yet accessible and popular. I remember before that I bought books everytime I go with my mother to the city. I get to be excited every time we visit a bookstore or a public library. We also had in the house a science encyclopedia and a world atlas books which I read every morning during the summer breaks.

Today I think I am bringing back that habit. Influenced recently by a friend, he recommended three famous books (which I just got familiar with) to buy and maybe have me buy a shelf for it. The book titles are: The Art of War, The 48 Laws of Power and The Art of Seduction. This got me thinking that aside from those three books he mentioned, I can look for other books that are of related topics. With that regard, I think I will just start a mini library in my room.

Right after the holy week holidays, I went to Robinson’s National Book store to find out if they have the three books on stock. Unfortunately, only one is available (The Art of War). The one that I least liked. I then went to the other book store, Book Sale for the same purpose. They also don’t have the books on stock so I just sort some of those that on sale and came upon this book that costs just 30 pesos.

I think this will help me in my future diet plans which I really have not started yet. This will serve as my current reading material at home while I wait for the restock of the aforementioned books. There is an option that I can order books from the other NBS branches in Manila but I wanted to save myself of the shipping hassle as I recently had a bad experience on that one.

Anyhow, I might frequently visit the bookstores in the future in search for random titles that will get my interest and attention. I think it is a good thing to spend your money on books rather than on booze or fastfoods right?