Musing Mondays: Bookstores
Here's this week's Musing Mondays hosted by Rebecca. To join and to see other answers, visit the meme's blog here.
How many bookstores do you frequent? Do you have a favourite? If so, which one and what makes it so?
Unfortunately, most of the bookstores in my area have closed. Sad because I live near a college town. We have several student bookstores, but their selection of books beyond texts is limited. Our last independent bookstore closed about ten years ago. We do have a midsize Barnes & Nobel, which isn't bad but doesn't have the service and selection of the independent stores. I don't have a favorite store at the moment.
I should take some inspiration from Amy of My Friend Amy and do some searching for bookstores in the surrounding communities. Maybe I'll discover a gem of store not too far away.
How about you? Do you have a nearby good bookstore? How far would you drive to visit a good bookstore?
13 comments:
I have a Border's 5 minute away and a amall independent 10 minutes. I don't care for either of them. My favorite is a large bookstore, Joseph-Beth, about 15 minutes away. They still owe me $10, so maybe I should get over there this week :)
That is so sad! There is a Borders around the corner from me, and I do go there now and then with my coupons in hand. I do need to do some research and find some indie stores...I'm not aware of any, but they have to be there hidden somewhere. Downtown Orlando has some very artsy fartsy neighborhoods, so I will look there first!
Sandy's right that is sad! There are two independent stores for new books in my city but both are specialty stores. I go everywhere for books though, online, thrift stores, and used bookstores.
Our indie's not very good - it need to be remodeled and their inventory's not very big, so the best thing we have around here is B & N, I'm sad to say.
So sorry about the closures, I am surprised when you live near a college.
Boy, I thought my town was bad! lol That is so sad that those bookstores closed up. There is only one indie store in my town and it just opened. The one I go to the most is a used bookstore about 5 miles from my house. The two big chain stores are 30 to 45 minutes across town and I don't care for them anyway.
I agree that it surprises me, since you are near a college. I guess students don't really read except for what they have to.
And not an indie in sight here...
I have to drive nearly nearly an hour away for a good bookstore (even if it is B&N) but our Waldenbooks is within walking distance from me right now. They're selection is okay.
I know I'd be very, very sad if there isn't any bookstore near me! I'm lucky there is one near my workplace, because my neighbourhood doesn't have one decent bookstore.
My indie bookstore is fortunate to still be in business. The big boys are, so far, 20 minutes away.
Stacy, Lisa: you are so lucky to have three books stores so close to you.
Sandy: Do report about any indies you find.
Vasilly, Zetor, Caite: It really is sad to think that a college town can't support an independent bookstore anymore.
Ladytink: we used to have a Walden's too. Their selection was pretty good.
Kathy/bermuda: I wonder how long that store will stay open.
Melody: I know where I'd be spending my lunch breaks!
Nise': That's the thing. Until B&N moved in, we had two indies and two used bookstores, and a Walden's in the mall. Now it's B&N and the student stores.
Sadly, there are no good bookstores near us. They store the ten most popular bestsellers and sell a lot of games, stationary and such (I do exaggerate but not too much). So these days I don´t go to a bookstore if I want anything for myself. I use amazon, abebooks and other online shops, and now and then when we visit a larger town or city, we browse a good secondhand shop. That can be a real pleasure, hundreds of great old crime fiction novels in one place :)
Each neighborhood in San Francisco has at least one indie that is worth driving to. I try to visit them all week by week. The ones that I keep returning are where I usually find the books on my list.
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