The world’s biggest book sale? Two million books at discounts of up to 80%? Where would we be without Amazon?
Only, this has absolutely nothing to do with Amazon.

This is the Philippines debut of the Big Bad Wolf event, the ten day 24/7 book sale that is taking SE Asia by storm.

Originally just in Malaysia back in 2009, the Big Bad Wolf has ventured into Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and this year the Philippines debut is planned to be one of ten Big Bad Wolf events. No details yet on which other new countries will be targeted, but safe to say booklovers are going to enjoy themselves.

If You Want to Beautifully Drown in Books, We Know Where to Go,
runs the headline in the Preen Inquirer, where Jacque de Borja, reporting from the Big Bad Wolf Preview day, said,

It literally took my breath away.

CNN Philippines Life explains,

Big Bad Wolf is so called because it’s set to huff and puff and bring the house down with big discounts slashed off the otherwise high prices of brand new books.

CNN offered the following tips.

Bring yourself in comfy clothes. Wear loose-fitting clothing, put on your favorite pair of sneakers, and you’re good to go exploring all that Big Bad Wolf has to offer for hours on end.
Bring a lot of stamina. What with the tables and stacks of books on the massive exhibition floor, and given that the sale promises at least 27,000 titles to choose from, being at Big Bad Wolf can get pretty overwhelming. So see to it that you’re well rested before going and well hydrated while shopping
Bring a friend. Especially if you’re intent on book-hoarding, you’ll probably need help pushing an extra shopping cart or lugging another shopping basket to accommodate all of your great finds. Bonus: Make a friend at the sale. When you see someone carrying a book you want, don’t hesitate to ask where you can find a copy for yourself.

Many buyers turn up with suitcases, and as the Preen Inquirer explains, there is

a Customer Storage Area for when you want to store unpurchased books when your cart is filled to the brim—which means going for your second or third round can be done with ease … Upon leaving the premises, they also have Porters to help you bring your new books to your car or Uber.

See many previous posts here at TNPS for the background to the Big Bad Wolf sales.
Here just to note that pretty much all the Philippines BBW books are in English, and demonstrate the keen demand for affordable reading in the country.
Sadly three of the Big 5 western ebook retailers – Amazon, Apple and Nook – have no presence in the Philippines, and so cheap ebooks, which would find a warm reception if made available, are few and far between.
This despite the fact that, as the twelfth largest country in the world by internet users, the Philippines has more people online than the UK, France or Italy. And it’s only at 65% penetration.
This video via youtube is of the BBW Preview day yesterday, and will give you some idea of the scale of the books available, if not the crowds.