Hunt for Your Next Great Read at This Quaint Neighborhood Bookstore in Valenzuela
It's a "bookstore built by booklovers for booklovers."
(SPOT.ph) Porch Reader is a quaint little bookstore in a Valenzuela neighborhood. Once inside their nook, you'll be greeted warmly by this scene: shelves full of secondhand and new titles, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, stacked upon and squeezed next to each other; a few greens here and there; and in the evening, an added touch of the ethereal thanks to fairy lights and streamers that adorn the ceiling. It's a "bookstore built by booklovers for booklovers," they say, having started in 2015 as an online shop selling a handful of the owners' personal collections.
Also read: SPOT.ph Roundup: Shops That Sell Secondhand Books In and Around Metro Manila
Here's what to expect in this quaint little bookstore in Valenzuela:
"We started out as (an) online shop back in 2015 with a handful of our own books for selling. We opened a physical store in Valenzuela back in 2019. It is still running to date," shared Wendy Mae Melchor of Porch Reader in an exchange with SPOT.ph. As with everyone else when the panini struck, they had to close the store temporarily, but thanks to their online platform they were able to stay afloat.
Fast forward to now, Porch Reader sources their books from various places. As bookworms themselves, they personally curate the books based on personal preferences and the genre that are most popular with their customers. "But we make sure that we have a little bit of everything for different ages," they added.
True enough, people from walks of life—from office workers to students and those in between—drop by their physical store to purchase books at affordable prices. You can spot fiction and non-fiction; classics; comics; self-help and self-published; children's books, and other merch.
Interestingly enough, they have more visitors during the evenings. "Mostly office workers 'yung nighttime customers. Morning and afternoon, students naman 'yung guests namin," they said. "We only have a small space kaya minsan crowded kapag multiple buyers." The bookshop is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. while their online shop is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Aside from making books accessible and affordable, Porch Reader also has a mission to build free little libraries all over the Philippines with every book bought.
We know you love reading about adventures, but go on one yourself when you drop by Porch Reader. You'll never know what treasure awaits you in this quaint little nook.
Porch Reader is located at 43 Unit E Marcelo H. Del Pilar St., Poblacion Polo, Valenzuela City. They're also available online.
For more information, check out Porch Reader's Instagram page.