I recently had a conversation with friends where we agreed that there are two kinds of fairs that incite massive spending in Singaporeans - travel fairs and IT fairs.

Apart from travel and IT fairs, we have food fairs, jewellery fairs, baby fairs, furniture fairs, department store fairs, and so on.

Every fair attracts particular types of people, and, at the risk of sounding elitist, book fairs seem to attract more courteous, contented individuals. They have their fair share of annoying types, but, on the whole, it seems that readers are a little easier to get along with.

Book fairs are peculiar events. They make you wonder what kind of printed treasures you might uncover. That, for many readers, is exciting stuff.

Here's to a great weekend book fair!