I miss bookstores...

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seun

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I'm surprised, Seun. My home city is smaller than yours but we still have a couple of large bookshops in the town centre plus Smiths, which has a large book area also at the back but easily accessed. I suspect the fast-sellers to the in-and-outers (sweets, magazines drinks, etc.,) are understandably given the prime access space at the front and wide-open access.

We used to have at least two bookshops in the main shopping centre. They've both gone in the last three years or so. Our Waterstones is small but it's better than nowt. Like I say, there's an out of town shopping area and while I haven't been there recently, I'm pretty sure it's not got a bookshop.

Smith's isn't a credible bookshop - it's basically a jack of all trades, selling whatever mishmash it can get away with in order to make money.

Pretty much the same as Woolies. And everything worked out OK for them.

Oh, wait...
 
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fireluxlou

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WH Smiths is more of a glorified One Stop Shop/Londis, always pushing £1 chocolate and drinks and crisps at me lol. Some of them sell sandwiches.

Going in there reminds me of the train station and airport because they mostly occupy travel service areas these days.
 

crunchyblanket

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WH Smiths is more of a glorified One Stop Shop/Londis, always pushing £1 chocolate and drinks and crisps at me lol
Oh lordy. The management referred to that as TPC's (till point conversations.) We were expected to foist them on EVERY customer. They even worked out which of us had sold the most, and formal warnings were issued to those of us who consistently sold the least. It was godawful, really demeaning.
 

fireluxlou

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Oh lordy. The management referred to that as TPC's (till point conversations.) We were expected to foist them on EVERY customer. They even worked out which of us had sold the most, and formal warnings were issued to those of us who consistently sold the least. It was godawful, really demeaning.

Tills these days keep records of what you sell so it can tell head office what sells in the shop, how much you sell of that product, if people are stealing from the shop etc. That's why at work we know who sells the most meal deals, breakfasts etc. All we sell is recorded under our names. :)
 

Alessandra Kelley

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As a teenager I lived in a town of about 10,000 with one tiny chain bookstore in a strip mall on the edge of town. The library was adequate, but mostly deserted except for me.

The worst year of my life I lived in a village of about 400 souls with no bookstore within fifty miles and no library except the school one. Above the youngest grades, the school library consisted of a couple of encyclopedias and a lot of join-the-army pamphlets. It was miserable.

Bookstores are essential, I'm tellin' ya.
 

JamesOliv

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We have independent bookstores in my town. We also have a B&N.

I like the bookstore atmosphere. I enjoy browsing. I like to peruse the pages on the New Releases table.

But I also scan barcodes with my phone and, if it is significantly cheaper on Amazon, I buy it from there.

As a matter of fact, the last time I actually purchased a book from B&N was in 2001. I go there often, but I don't generally buy from them.

I have purchased more from the local bookstores, which have events, book signings and meet the author nights.

B&N used to do this. Then they stopped (at least here) working for my money. They just put out some books on a table and expect me to buy them.

The small bookstores have to hustle, but they seem to be surviving here pretty well. Their coffee is cheaper than Starbucks. They are hosting events that actually attract me there. And when an author is pitching a book in front of me, I am more likely to buy it from them, right there, than trying to save a few bucks on Amazon.

We actually just had a bookstore open up about three years ago. Five years prior, it would have been financial suicide to open up a store in the world of Borders and B&N.

So times seem to be shifting. Hopefully there will be a move somewhere in the middle where we can enjoy the convenience of Amazon but still pop over to the local bookstore for a cup of coffee and a visit with the store cat.
 

HarryHoskins

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But I'm not sure many are left who share that deep sense of nostalgia?

If you're feeling a deep sense of nostalgia you're already dead. Damn I miss feeling alive.

This finding books online thing doesn't have the same satisfaction of the accidental find. I want that again.

Three options:

Charity Shops

Library

Book specific burglary


I've never been a fan of book stores, let alone reading. (Writer, but doesn't like to read a lot. Kill me)

I won't kill you, I'll just let Matthew Holness in the guise of Garth Marenghi skewer you.

'I'm one of the few people you'll meet who's written more books than they've read.'
 

Alessandra Kelley

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I will echo Julie Ambrose and suggest Goodreads. It doesn't sell books, but it is a great site for finding offbeat, interesting books, complete with reader recommendations.

Since Goodreads can be a little difficult to navigate, here's a place to start. Goodreads has pages showing all the books members shelved with a particular description (such as "mystery" or "offbeat" of even "made-my-eyes-bleed"), listed in the order of how many people described them that way.

All of those lists can be accessed by pasting the following in your browser address bar, substituting whatever you're looking for for the "offbeat" at the end. Use dashes instead of spaces (as in the "made-my-eyes-bleed" example above).

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/offbeat

If anybody on Goodreads has shelved a book with that description, you will see it.
 
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ChaosTitan

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I'm extremely blessed to live less than two miles from a B&N. But this B&N is only one of two bookstores on the shore. The next closest is a glorious indie shop about forty miles away. This past fall, a small chain of indie shops up and down the shore closed, and that took a small piece of my childhood. I used to love browsing those stores, because they were set up like small warehouses--I always felt like an explorer discovering wonderful riches, and I found so many new authors by digging around and reading cover copy.

*sigh*
 

Ashurita

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I love bookstores, I can't imagine what I'd do if the local ones closed up, because I much prefer going there and browsing than browsing online - though I do admit I find more recommendations online, and then to purchase most books online once I spot them, but this is only because the local bookstores are either insanely expensive (compared to just importing the book) or just outright don't carry any of the themes that interest me.
You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find less known, say, Fantasy, than any other book.
 

Lycoplax

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I'm fortunate that the base I live on is close to both a Books-A-Million and a Barnes & Noble. Hubby and I don't buy many books these days, for financial reasons, but we love to browse.

Back at home, though, there was this delightful bookstore that bought, sold, and traded books, nestled into Old Main Street. It had a main floor, a mezzanine, and an attic. The attic was where they kept the used books. It was a treasure trove for me. I found books from the 1800's up there.

Unfortunately, the building was so old, they had to shut it down for a while to reinforce the attic, and they had to clean out the attic to do that. I hadn't been in a while, and when I stopped by next, they had trashed a bunch of 'unsellable' old books, and mixed the remainder into the rest of the stock. It was a very sad day for me, as I normally shopped the attic for books by their age, not by their content.

I wasn't able to go there for a few months because of life things, and when I went back the next time, the bookstore had closed. :(
 

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/shameless plug

If you're in the US and would like to support indie bookstores, but don't have one nearby, I'd like to recommend http://indiebound.org -- you can find an independent bookstore pretty much anywhere in the US, close to you or clear on the other side of the country, and order through them much as you would from Amazon or B&N.

You're probably not going to get the deep discounts or free shipping that the big guys can offer, but if you're fond of indies, giving them your patronage helps keep their doors open.

Most of them even sell ebooks. They're done through Google ebooks right now, and can be converted to be read on all ereaders except the Kindle. (Unfortunately, Google's yanking that program in January 2013, but I believe the ABA is looking for a replacement platform).
 

Grunkins

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Perusing a bookstore will become a lost art, then sometime after that, perusing a personal library will become a lost art. Dark days ahead.
 

Rachel Udin

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Hi Rachel Udin,

I so totally agree. The experience of browsing, the accidental gems — I loved bookstores! It's definitely not worth trying that at Amazon; the lists are too huge and the search ordering is way too unwieldy.

But can I give a little plug here for GoodReads? Increasingly I go there for the random, the off-kilter and the unexpected. Other people's reviews can be a great way to find unusual gems. I've only just started getting involved so don't have many friends on my list (which limits how many lists and reviews I see), but it was a fantastic eye-opener to realise I could look in 'fantasy of manners' (what a great subgenre) and look for the best reviewed books before going across to Amazon and sampling their front pages. I bought several books that way this week; all were more-or-less random finds based on a little bit of poking around. In some ways it was better than the old fashioned bookstore because I could see what other readers thought. It's really worth getting into if you can be bothered setting yourself up there (it's slow to start, but once you've inputted your favourite books and rated them, things start to roll).

Happy hunting!
Julie

Going around on Goodreads doesn't quite have the same feel as a bookstore, for me. There isn't the overwhelming smell of books. You can't just open a book to read author notes for the sake of it, you can't flip to the middle at random and see if you'd like the plot. It kinda feels impersonal still. I really never cared what other people thought of a book, I cared more of what I thought of it. Plus I had bookstore games that you can only play in a bookstore. ^^; I know that sounds weird.

Bookstore games included...
-Making bets on which books would be well-stocked in the fantasy and science fiction section. (Does that compare to the online bookstores?)
-Betting where a particular book is stocked.
-Guessing if they've combined a certain section of books. (Like is the women's lit in the general fiction section?)
- Reading author notes and then comparing them to writing books that the same author has written to see if they are giving the same consistent advice.
- Comparing author notes over time. Has the author changed their mind over time?
- Comparing first paragraphs of all of the new books to see what the editors liked.
- What new fangled genre has a bookshelf dedicated to it?
- Comparing the blurb and the first paragraph with the last chapter to see if I can guess how the writer wrote their book. - Then reading the author notes to see if they say. ^^; (Yeah, I know)
- Have Romance covers gotten past Fabio yet? Haha.
- What's in the children's section? Wow, that's made it into children's?
- YA fantasy--tell my fortune for in ten years.
- Then I'd go over to the magazine section to see what editors thought was the next wave of books. (Sadly, magazines also aren't as well-stocked anymore as many have gone out of business, so I can't play many of those games either). I'd check if I knew any of the authors, the genres that were doing well, what kind of stories were being told, see if I could read a few, and then do raw counts like, how many had girls/women as lead characters. How many were science fiction v. fantasy. How many magazines available were of a particular genre. Were there any magazines on a particular topic? Which magazines I knew were and weren't stocked. How many editors were male v. female? and so on.

I used bookstores mainly for market research, which is a bit harder to do online.... because you are often *directed* towards books, but you can't directly see, well, Terry Pratchett has 4 books of one book, versus this new author over here, so he must be more popular at the moment. You can get best seller lists, but that just tells what's popular, rather than what the sellers think are better bets. Not all best sellers are well-stocked in a bookstore and the bookstore tells a fair amount about the psychology of the *current* publishing industry as they are the end product.

Accidental finds in a bookstore is a bit more satisfying, not only for the tactile, but for the proud moment, you found it yourself and like it based on your own opinion. Plus the slight rush about not being sure if the book is good or not, but you sure are willing to try and discover, rather than be told that it is good by group census.

Libraries also seem to be deficient on books as well. The best I had were university libraries, but even growing up, I couldn't find certain books I was looking for. I usually take trips to the bookstore to see what's selling, what's considered important, etc. (I'd buy 100 dollars worth of books at a time and then read them all) But I love libraries too. I'll mainly hang out in the non-fiction section.

Possibly a sign of the times, Seun. In Mississippi, the Barnes and Noble cut their inventory by more than half to make way for Miss St. Univ. hoodies and cowbells.
My Barnes and Nobles too. (The one I can get to) cut their selection to sure bets in their Science Fiction and Fantasy section. What was 2 good bookcases (front and back) got turned into one (front and back) with the science fiction and fantasy section combined (they used to be separate). The romance and other genre fiction took a hit too. The children's section kinda grew a bit, though, from what I see and they dedicated a huge amount of space to DVDs, CDs, blu-rays, etc. The fiction books are being choked. They got moved at least 3 times in the last year and have shrunk every time. This is a 3 level "book"store, so it's not lacking for space. First floor is all DVD and such. The second floor is mostly all non-fiction. The third floor shares with non-fiction, children's YA and the rest of the genres. They have yet *more* DVDs and CDs on that floor too. (which is sad. Poor, poor fiction) They simply aren't stocking it.

It's shrinking... the fiction section in the B&N. And what's stocked at books that are ancient good bets rather than edgy new reads that the publishers have begged in. The used-to-be well-stocked new releases went from a full shelf to one shelf. I don't begrudge older authors, but I've read most of that stuff already...
 

ManOfTongues

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I'll jump on the band-wagon and say that I love bookstores also. Here in Canada, Chapters is a big bookselling franchise but they've downsized recently and incorperated 'quirky' home items -- teapots, boardgames, candles.

My favourite part though is still walking the aisles and finding a gem that I've never read before. I haven't been able to do that lately since my compulsive buying has left me with a lengthy booklist at home, but I await the day when I can walk into a bookstore and start reading the new book I buy immediately.

It's a problem, really. I can't go into a bookstore without buying something. And then it sits on my shelf until I finish the books I bought impulsively before it. I'm like an addict :(

- Michael
 

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We have 5 B&Ns in this city, and two indie bookstores (one just kids and YA). I love going to bookstores, but none of these has the same feeling as when I went to Borders. I would go to Borders to shop and to write in the cafe. It was the most comfortable place for me to write, tbh. I would go in, browse the YA section, pick out 10 books, write in the cafe, check out the first pages of the books while I drank a coffee milkshake, write some more, then buy a couple books. Sometimes when I drive by where the still-empty Borders store was, I feel like crying for the loss of it.

The indie store closest to me is cool for atmosphere--it's a labyrinth of books--but it isn't really good for hanging out. It's pretty claustrophobic. Also, you can't go in looking for something specific unless it's a bestseller. You have to go in just to see what you can find if you want to come out happy. I don't know much about the kid's bookstore because I only discovered it when some YA authors were having an event there, and it was too crowded to browse. But I can guess that I wouldn't be comfortable writing there for hours.

It sounds like we're lucky to have bookstores at all, and I feel inspired to browse the labyrinth store now (it's right next door to where I am right now), but I do miss Borders.
 

itsmary

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I'm fortunate enough to live five minutes down the road from Books a Million. I go in there often enough that I've gotten to know a couple of the booksellers/cafe workers. I don't buy books there very often because I'm cheap, but I like to browse and see if anything interests me that I might want to get from the library or order online later.
There's a B&N about 15 minutes away, but it's on a college campus so I don't go there very often. There are also a couple of used bookstores around town, but I don't like browsing them as much because you usually have to dig to find anything interesting.

I used to love going to Borders in college. So sad that it closed -- but I moved away after graduation, so I wouldn't have had one close by anyway.
 

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I am extremely fortunate to live near a University community that supports four independent bookstores within a fifteen minute walk of my house. Although I'm a big fan of the small, local stores, there's also something comforting about a big chain bookstore like Barnes & Noble. They have a kind of magic of their own.
 

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I'm fortunate to have Bookstores in my town. We have the big ones and little ones. But my favorite is 1/2 price books. They buy up so many books, I get the nostalgia of 'not knowing what I'm going to find'.
But it's a bummer to those who really see bookstores drying up.
 

stormie

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I could spend hours in bookstores. I lose track of time and come out of there in total bliss, even if I don't buy anything.

You know what I find sad? That our local Barnes & Noble is having more and more games and puzzles and educational toys crowding out the books. Most kids gravitate toward that area and away from the children's books. There used to be toy stores for that. But those wonderful stores too have closed.

And they enlarged the coffee shop area too, again taking up space where the bookshelves used to be.

Sad.
 

mrsvalkyrie

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<sigh> I miss them, too... We used to have two bookstores in our mall about ten minutes away. B. Dalton and Waldenbooks. B. Dalton was the first to go-- it became a furniture store. Waldenbooks went about a year or so ago and became an eyeglass store. The nearest Barnes and Noble is a half hour away with no traffic, which is... never. But there is a library about five minutes away with a Dunkin Donuts in it, so that's a plus.

And I don't buy e-books. I might download a free short story or something once in a while if I just so happen to come across it, but I don't go looking for them and I don't think I ever will. When I go to flea markets and thrift stores, I always come home with books, and I am all smiles as I arrange them on my bookcases trying to decide which one I'm going to read first. The last time I downloaded a short story, I don't think I even cracked a smile. And I couldn't finish the damn thing anyway. Pretty sure I was just born in the wrong generation. Lol.
 

JimmyB27

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There are two bookshops in my town, but as they are both Waterstones, I don't think it really counts. Oh, and there's The Works too actually, which sometimes can have some good stuff.

I miss Dublin. There's a great independant bookshop called Chapters there. Massive shop with two floors, new books downstairs and used upstairs. Used to love that place. :(
 

Anninyn

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We used to habe a waterstones, a borders and another bookshop, plus several second-hand bookstores and a couple of independant bookstores.

We now have the waterstones, a couple of stalls on the market, an oxfam books-and-music shop, and one independant.

The thing is, the world changes. It's a shame that we lose things in order for that to happen, but when it changes we also gain things. None of us know how the future will look.
 
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