As a kid is to a toy store, so am I in a bookstore.

And so stepping inside "Fully Booked" at Bonifacio High Street felt like being in a giant, wonderful playground!!!

I really can't believe that last Thursday was the first time I bothered to take a look at the place. Boy, was I missing out on a lot!

The "Fully Booked" flagship store is a five-storey reading mecca. As if a parallelism to the genre's place in media, anime, manga and comics are underground. The ground level features popular fiction, general non-fiction, and magazines both foreign and local. Business, economics, history, philosophy, leisure, music, culinary arts and other special interest titles are housed in the third to the fifth floors.

In keeping with bookstores' sense of being comfortable and familiar, there is a Starbucks inside. The place spells "good hang out" -- whether for some private reading time or an intimate conversation with a friend over coffee (or in my case, tea).

Going with the trend of literature and music coming together conveniently, "Fully Booked" likewise has a record bar with small booths to allow buyers a quick listen to featured albums.

And there's an area perfectly suited for book launches and small discussions.

In my opinion being an ardent fan of hobby stores, Music One within Powerbooks still has a more diverse collection of CDs and DVDs, National Bookstore of course reigns where textbooks and school supplies are concerned, and readers still have a better chance at finding good bargains in quaint book shops... but "Fully Booked" at BHS definitely has strong appeal for the modern reading public with diverse interests.

Do check it out. If you're into reading, you won't be disappointed. There's something in "Fully Booked" for you.