If your new year's resolution is to read more books, then this weekend's Kuala Lumpur Alternative Bookfest at Central Market (30 January - 3 February) should be on your radar. Will you read more books? Who knows. Will you at least buy some? We hope so.

Just be prepared to get lost: in a good way. There will be over 80 stalls at the festival, most of them run by Malaysian indie publishers and booksellers such as Maple Comics, The Biblio Press, Dubook Press, Sunda Shelves and Lit Books. Taking over a large stretch of Central Market, expect book launches, meet-the-author sessions and more. The event runs from 10am - 10pm daily.

KLAB is organised by the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (Mabopa), in association with FIXI and The Patriots. In 2025, the festival hit a record number of visitors, estimated at 93,000. So bring a friend, or even the whole family. Reading doesn't have to be a solitary activity, after all.

Find out more on KLAB's Instagram