I can't remember the last time I bought a book in a bookstore instead of online. I go to Borders, but only for the coffee.
My dream is to highjack the London Review of Books Bookshop, eject the staff, lock the doors and read that bulging cornucopia of erudition all the way to Vegas.
Maybe the bookstore is a relic of the past, like the drive-in movie theater and the 8-track tape. As TUM pointed out, the way we obtain our media is changing, and quickly.
lock the doors and read
Seems to me you should be doing some writing instead ......
I go to Borders, but only for the coffee.
I am having difficulty understanding this sentence. ;)
Though I must say we're a publisher's and bookseller's nightmare -- we just go to the library.
I actually have a friend in marketing that's helping a major US chain boost its book sales. When they asked her where she buys her books she replied, "I don't. I go to the library." She said they gave her a look that seemed to imply they wished for very bad things to happen to her.
I do buy a lot online now but it can't match the joy of a good 2nd hand bookshop. Mysterious piles of books. Never knowing what you'll find. Books you never knew you needed. Bliss.
Well, the secondhand bookshop is a different story altogether. I DO shop in those, and it is indeed a joy.
Re: Borders coffee - our branch is in a mall, and the only place in said mall with fancy coffees.
Bravo Mr Publisher! Boo Mr Bookshop!
I like Creative Commons ebooks. I never liked my eyesight anyway.
Oh, second hand bookshops are awesome! We have two in the same block as my work. Many a lunch hour spent looking for treasure. I love the smell of old books, and books would take over my apartment if I let them.
So will this ridiculous subsidize-your-sales behavior cause more small publishers (and by default, lesser-known authors) to stop publishing, or will this simply send them to different outlets, like the internet?
Old books smell so much better than new ones. New ones smell like what poisoned dates should smell like.
No way, man. New book smell is like new car smell. Intoxicating.
I love that cracking sound when you open a brand-new book.
Intoxicating, perhaps.
I'm sorry, but you're all wrong. New books do not have a smell. They just smell like the store they've been sitting in (carpet, plastic signage, glass cleaner).
A book must be passed from one place to another to acquire a patina of life-smells. Only then is it worth sniffing.
Gasp! What of the glue? What of the inks? What of the binding threads, boards and cloth? What of the many many many many many different papers? What of, Lara?!?! YOUR NOSE DON'T KNOWS.
Those things don't have a life-smell, dammit! They smell like air.
At least not until they age, like a good wine. Then, look out nose, I tell you!
You're all a bunch of booksniffers! Booksniffing orphans in the orphans shack!
'least we're not potsnorkers!
Speak for yourself. I am a potsnorking booksniffer, and proud of it.
Be careful with that book!
A book is not a toy. It can be a WEAPON in the wrong hands. Anyone who would carelessly put a book up their nose and snarf is just asking to have their head blown off. Booksnarfing should be done only by competent snarfers with a spotter in the safety of their public or private libraries. Have a bookmark handy at all times.
Please take all your potsnorking activity to the appropriate room in your domicile.
*grinds Nicholas Meyer's The Seven Per Cent Solution into a fine powder, mixes with snorkpot water*
I once chose a college by the way the library smelled-wonderful old books, just like at my grandparents house. I made a life decision based on book sniffing.
Hmm, I chose a college by its museum and the impromptu opportunity to visit its vaults. Similar to exploring a quality research library I'm sure.
I buy second-hand books often, but have a mortal fear of discovering some form of human effluvia in them. Eew. I love the smell of absolutely brand new, unthumbed, fresh-from-the-printer books. Don't like the concept of Monster Bookstore Inc., where one pays new book prices for what may well be an already perused book. Ick.
I just notices that the article on Waterstones notes that Bloomsbury (Harry Potter's publisher) has the power to beat the book sellers. They should be using this power to defend all of the publishers, and not just out of altruism - Bloomsbury will be in the same place now that Harry Potter is over.
Intoxicating, perhaps.