David on Formosa

Russian Literature is the theme of the 2007 Book Exhibition 

I went to the Taipei International Book Exhibition today. There were plenty of books there to see (and buy). The exhibition can rightly call itself international as there were stands from many different countries in the international section including Australia, Iran and Poland. 

Far East Pinyin Quickstart Guide (遠東漢語拼音全球通)

I was particularly interested in looking for Chinese language learning materials at the exhibition. I was disappointed to find that there were very few books on display. Only the Far East Book Company had a good selection of books and language learning software. It was there I found the interesting book in the photo above. The Far East Pinyin Quickstart Guide (遠東漢語拼音全球通) is written in Chinese to teach people how to correctly use Hanyu Pinyin. I hope it becomes a bestseller in Taiwan!

A History of Taiwan in Comics (認識台灣歷史)

Another interesting stand was the Third Nature Publishing Company. They publish the ten volume bilingual (Chinese and English) A History of Taiwan in Comics (認識台灣歷史). They also publish a range of books about environmental topics. 

Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (法鼓山) stand at the book exhibition 

There were also a number of Buddhist publishers with stands. It was interesting to see that they featured not just titles written by well-known Taiwanese Buddhist teachers, but translations of books written by Buddhist teachers from the West.  

Two models dressed as the characters in Nana

The second exhibition hall was dedicated to comics (漫畫 or manga) and was lively and colorful. The two models in the photo above were acting as the characters in the Japanese manga (and movie) Nana. This area was popular with the younger crowd. The third exhibition hall was for children's books, but I didn't have time to visit it. 

Comics on sale at the exhibition 

The exhibition runs until Sunday (4 February).