I love an actual book store. I can spend hours browsing and filling my arms with books I'm excited to read. I have to sort of watch myself with this as to not overdo it. But, for me, the whole book shopping experience is quite enjoyable. I like to check out new releases on display and enter the rows of shelves divided by categories. And it's even better if they're stocked up with remainders and/or have a used book section. Plus, I always find the people who work their helpful and knowledgeable. Yes, I have a favorite book store. And this one is still independently owned so I do feel good about giving them my business. Man, do I give them business. I stopped in to pick up one book and left with half a dozen. I probably hit this place up every one to two months at least. Do you have a favorite book store? And how often to you visit a physical book store? I like it so much better than buying books at Amazon or other places online. I also enjoy reading a book in my hands rather than on a screen, turning actual pages and dog-earing a page to keep my place. I used to own a kindle, but I've always preferred reading the physical copy. And I have bought a few books on Amazon in the past, but that's always been when I was looking for specific titles on the cheap. I discover new author and/or new books that I might not have come across in an online search. For me, it's just a different experience. I am truly grateful to the little, independent book stores across the country. They are truly a gem for book lovers. What are your thoughts and experience with this?
Not a book store, but I go to the public library every Monday with my ten-year-old grand-niece and my eleven-year-old grand-nephew. I imagine it's the same sort of feeling - all these books! Like heaven.
Since I prefer an e-reader, and most of my discovery is word-of... Internet, I generally don't hit the bricks that often. Indigo's physical selection always seems limited, but hot damn my arms fill up quick when there's a local library sale on. Those always seem more random, like I'll find something I never could have imagined. And hitting used book stores is a great thing to do when travelling; I just never travel. My local thrift shops usually just have the same mass market Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy's x, Stephen King books each time in the fiction region.
About once a month, which probably should be less since my to-read bookcase is full. There are several bookstores in town, a couple of secondhand, an independent one, and a chain. I've gone to them all many times, though the independent one caters more to young adult books and that's not my preference. I have read a couple of gems from my visits there, but also some really big duds (for my tastes). I'm grateful I live in an area that has so many bookstores but also two very big public libraries. I like owning books, so I don't go to the library often, but a goal next year is to become a donor to the library somehow, financially. I don't make a lot of money, but my summers were spent at the library as a kid and I would like to be able to give back to the place that gave me a happier childhood.
I live in a small town so we don't have any bookshops per se. We do have a small library however, the range on offer is limited. We also have a couple of charity shops (Thrift store in the USA?) where I have been able to buy older books which are difficult to come by / no longer in print. Occasionally I take a trip in to the city where I treat myself to a new book from a major UK book chain store
Ditto to the library. I don’t go too often. Just enough to get a few books and repeat. There’s something about new books and their unbent covers that makes me feel like I shouldn’t spend much time thumbing through them in a bookstore. A library just invites you to stay as long as you want.
My problem with the library is that I never bring my books back. It's such a problem, I know. And my intent is not to steal from the library. It's just I'm sort of a repeat offender. I do love a good library, and the one I'm living near is really great. But I still haven't brought back the books I took out at the beginning of the summer. At this point I probably owe them the cost of the books. I do plan on getting around to settling up with them. It's just that this happens to me all the time. But, yeah, that same wonderful feeling of being surrounded by books I just can't wait to read.
I forgot about library book sales. Love those! I used to go to one every year when I lived in another state. I'm not sure about what the ones around me now do. Does every library have a library book sale? How would I find out about ones near me now? Any ideas? Those are a lot of fun. Years back I went to one that was held over a weekend. On the last day every book that was left over was free. The only rule was that you had to be able to physically carry the books out yourself. Of course, people had bags to fill and whatnot. And I think all books were only $1 prior to becoming free for the taking. I just happened to go on the last day. A pleasant surprise. Still, I like to browse and linger over the titles. I try not to take anything I won't read or won't get around to reading for a long time. But that hasn't always worked. How many books do you usually pick up at a library sale?
Just curious... What is it about owning books that you like? I think I'm the same way. I like to have books around me. Funny thing is that I don't actually own a bookcase so it really does feel like they're all around me. At the same time, I am quick to give a book away after to someone I think will enjoy it. I guess I sort of lend them out with no hope of getting them back, but I'm okay with that because I want more people to experience these wonderful stories. However, that doesn't seem to happen all that often.
I'm ashamed to say I've not been to a bookstore or library in about eighteen years because I live in a small town on the edge of nowhere. But then I also have to contend with the language barrier... Before buying a Kindle, I purchased all fiction books from car boot sales or charity shops. Now, I buy all books, including non-fiction, from Amazon. Are there still independent bookstores in the UK ... I don't know.
It's been far too long since I've been to a bookstore or the library. I love the feel and smell of real books, but I'm also a big fan of the convenience of using my phone as an e-reader.
It's a multifaceted response, but the main reason I prefer buying instead of borrowing is books have always been a place of safety for me. I could leave my reality and enter a different world. Because of how I grew up, I don't really buy myself new things, but books have a purpose, so I buy them without thinking too hard about letting myself have them. Being surrounded by books makes me feel less alone, I guess.
Four or five times a year. Nearest larger town is 108 miles. when I have classes I always stop in for a while. If it were nearer I would be a pauper. No books at home when I was a child; reading was my escape mechanism; I guess it is still.
Oh yes. I love bookstores. There's so much to choose from and it's such a better experience than buying one from Amazon (and waiting three days for delivery). I honestly prefer physical books over digital. I can settle for both but nothing beats reading from actual, real pages. Generally, if I can get the physical book, I get the physical book. Storage is starting to be a problem but I'm a crafty person and I'll figure something out.
J'adore the library too and being immersed in all that knowledge and creativity. It's a treasure trove. The vast possibilities for learning and imagination. There's just not enough time to read them all Even though the internet offers a wealth of content, it doesn't compare to the full sensory experience of the library – the smells, the sounds, the air. A book's perishability alone imbues it with a peculiar value. Perhaps an old, well-read book holds as much a story as the one found within its pages. I also visit bookshops maybe once a month, and less frequently Housmans in Londinium, the latter mainly to indulge in fantasies of berets and revolution!
I bought a bundle of for sale books at our local library last summer. One of those books had my cousins name in it from 1969. She passed years ago, but I thought it was a pretty cool find.
“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” ― Mark Twain
I dont go into bookstores for a different reason: I have the constant urge to reshelve stuff when they are out of order and fluff up displays
We have a good independent bookstore in town but I don't go very often. Books are expensive, they take up a lot of space (look at my house if you don't believe me), and we have two excellent libraries in town that supply pretty much whatever my little heart desires. I usually limit myself to buying books I know I will read repeatedly. That being said, if I have to make the 4 hour drive to the Colorado Front Range, I stop in Barnes and Noble and allow myself to gamble on a new title, maybe two if they have "buy one, get one half price" going on.
There is only one bookstore I go to in my city because it is independent and carries a lot of unique / rare editions of books. I collect as much as I enjoy reading, so the place is sort of heaven on earth. I also usually drop in on my city’s library sales, which happen once a week. I’ve found so many great editions of books there, and paid as little as a quarter. About a month ago I discovered in their rares room a first ed of Carver’s Will You Please Be Quiet Please? They want a couple hundred for it. A steal, honestly. I think I’m about to nab it soon—if it’s still there. I don’t think I could live with myself otherwise.
I think a few times a month. I don't buy books that often, but I just like visiting different stores, and seeing what is on shelves. When I travel somewhere, I always try to visit stores too. Now I'm in Paris and I visit almost every store I see here. And I love flee markets too, sometimes there you can find amazing books, which are very old, but I like it, each has a history
I don't go to bookstores much now, but I'm a sucker for any used-book store. We used to have at least half a dozen good ones here in Sacramento, but we're down to two or three now.
