The bookstore compulsion

[Sugar Smack]

Yesterday-

Dad and I visited at his house and we decided to go to lunch at a natural-foods cafe. The cafe was built as part of a new "housing community" known as Southern Village. I'd hated the whole project on principle because of what it had done to the trees and deer in the area, but here it was, complete with a movie theater, pizza place, church, school, shoe store, etc. We ate at Weaver Street Market.

The food there is so GOOD! I'd never had baked tofu before. I try green beans with pesto and squash salad. I'm in dizzy-heights mode & I require silence as I savor everything. The quaint lunch over, Dad and I slouch into our after-dining postures in our chairs and chat. Then we wonder where the bookstore is.

Cute cashier guy points us down the street and to the left. We want to browse and possibly buy. I could stay in a bookstore all afternoon. We approach a one-room glass-walled corner bookstore and peek in, our view helped by the sunshine. We go in. What the fuck?!? There are shelves lining the walls, but just look at this! Instead of seeing countless spines of books, the books are turned on the shelves so we can see EVERY cover with ample space between them. Where are the rest of the books? Is this it? I'm supposing with disgust that the owners are opting for a "minimalist" atmosphere, but this isn't what you do with bookstores. You do it with cafes and restaurants and hotels; you leave bookstores with the vocation of being as densely-packed with options and variety as possible, even if it DOES look "cluttered".

After 20 minutes of this pitiful store, Dad and I hug and part ways. I'm not done with browsing cause I've been so disappointed by that store. I go to Borders next and linger there for an hour, sated, knowing I'll get one paperback and I'm careful to pick the Right One. Finally I pick out a book called "The Bitch Posse" by Martha O'Connor. The more I stare at it and page through it, the more excited I get. I can't WAIT to get out of here!! This book is mine, mine, MINE. I pay for it and run to my car. I glance at it lovingly where it lies on the passenger seat waiting to be torn into, and I reach over and touch it at the stoplights.

When I get home I eye it greedily, set up the reading props I'll need, take one more bathroom break, then DIG IN.

[RetroLounge]

1. Oh, i can so relate...

:hi:

RL

[Sugar Smack]

4. Hey, you!

:hi:

It's like this: frustration, frustration, disgust, then with a little effort- satisfaction! By the way, I ate up "The Bitch Posse" in one sitting. GLUED to it, cherie. I didn't want it to end. When you find that perfect book to fit your mood & attitude there's no stopping.

[RetroLounge]

18. When a friend lent me The Time Traveler's Wife

I read that voraciously, wished i had time to do nothing else, and related heavily thru the whole thing.

amazing book.

RL

[Guava Jelly]

2. with this heat it's a perfect day for it.

A cup of joe if it's still early or if its noonish an ice cold lemonade a glass of vino or even a cold brew.
Hope its a good book
enjoy

[Sugar Smack]

8. Iced Cafe Americano with a little milk and sweetener-

AH. And the people- you don't get this much if you're out in public unless you're at a gym or bookstore- the people are all hungry for the same thing. It's a very respectful atmosphere.

People ask me why I go to bookstores instead of the library. I like to own and refer to my books. Sometimes I'll dogear or write in them. And the one I bought yesterday I'm going to re-read very soon!

:hi:

[Guava Jelly]

11. sounds tasty

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

17. Tasty and refreshing.

Summer staple, love. :D

[RetroLounge]

19. Bookstores are my churches

:hi:

RL

[Sugar Smack]

32. Mine too. Maybe someday we'll go into one of these

churches together and I'll leave you to worship at the Poetry shrine; I'll go to the Journalism altar. Then we can meet up in the cafe and show each other our stuff! :D

[RetroLounge]

36. yes, that would be great

you've just summed up a perfect shopping trip...

RL

[Sugar Smack]

81. At this very moment, you're at a book store and cafe now,

with your buddies. I hope you're having so much fun. I'm about to hit the sack myself, but not without a pile of books next to me, and my beloved cat.

Sweet dreams.

[tjwmason]

67. Bookshops and libraries aren't the same at all.

I speak as a fan of both.

I loaded up at the library yesterday, and I'm forever spending time and money in bookshops as well - my particular favourites are second-hand bookshops...some of the things one can pick up are wonderful.

I have been known to read a book from a library, and then to buy a copy immediately after I've read it - you're right it's important to own some books, so that they can be dealt with more thoroughly.

[Sugar Smack]

69. I love second-hand book stores : )

Love them. We have three very excellent ones in Chapel Hill. They are absolutely jammed with books, and I'm one to linger in such places for hours. I have a little voyeuristic streak in me that appreciates castoffs that others have written in. I like to see what possessed them to write certain comments. I look at side notes, underlinings, inscriptions, and folds. There are stories and personalities revealed in the ownership and handling of books.

Once, I found the beginnings of someone's OWN JOURNAL in a used book store. The book itself was primarily blank pages. It was called "The Morning Pages Journal". There were ten pages of densely-written, desperate-sounding personal thoughts in it. I wonder what the person was thinking when she gave it to the book store!!

[REDKING]

3. Hiya Sugar......

Hows things....the author is called O'Connor...watch out thats my surname..has to be good...Peace:+

[Sugar Smack]

9. REDKING of the Peaceful Nights

How the hell are you, Muffin? It is a great book, my friend. The satisfaction and satiety one feels when sitting down comfortably with a stunningly-written book really can't be touched. Although, my cat Sophie was a bit peeved when she tried to get my attention

Of course, she wound up jumping on my open book and meowing in my face. :D

[REDKING]

15. Redking of the peaceful nights?

I dont know what you mean....but I like it...I really have to start reading again..peace RK:+

[Sugar Smack]

20. Redking of the peaceful nights. All that "peace" you spread willy-nilly

through the Lounge when you tell us goodnight and "peace". How would I sleep peacefully without you, then? I'm glad you like the name.

:loveya:

[REDKING]

35. I reap what I sow.....

Peace is good..take care darlin,see you later..Rk;)

[miss_american_pie]

5. Bookstores are sacred spaces

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

12. They really are. How is it that such a public space

can be so intimate? Your relationships drift from one author to another. You may discard or hold on for dear life. And there's always the glee of finding a real treasure that you want to swoop in and carry home with you.

:toast: :bounce:

[miss_american_pie]

14. Oh exactly

Intimate. Ordained. Otherwordly. I love bookstores.

[progmom]

6. you said it very well

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

16. HI, sweet! Thank you-

My tolerance for empty bookstores has a low threshold. I DID appreciate the fact that it was privately-owned and not a chain. But I'll tell you- what the hell is the use of even opening a bookstore when the choice is so limited? I've seen other bookstores like that one and left them empty-handed and confused.

Sometimes I think these store owners want to convey "class" but fall pitifully short of doing the public any service. Case in point: This particular one had too many children's books, a lot of NC authors, 20 or so classics, and the latest NYC Times book review favorites. *rolls eyes* No room whatsoever for those of us possessing natural curiosity.

:hi: :patriot:

[progmom]

22. and in addition to a nice deep, interesting inventory, what's so important

...in a bookstore is passionate employees who want to to turn you on to new books. I am always drawn to the Staff Selections sections first. I have found some of my favorite books of recent years there.

[Sugar Smack]

40. You can tell you're in the right place when you see the enthusiasm

of the employees. The staff picks are usually very good choices. Interesting and eclectic. It's like going into someone's house and seeing what the hermeneutics of their character is. I make a beeline (as subtly as possible) to a person's bookshelf when I visit. It's more polite, I suppose, than rifling thru their medicine chest. When a person has no bookshelf and no books I feel a vague detachment that I can never place a finger on at the moment.

[progmom]

43. you pegged it

" When a person has no bookshelf and no books I feel a vague detachment that I can never place a finger on at the moment."

We don't have bookshelves up yet...and I feel very unsettled about that. It's just not right. Books warm up a joint. :) They make me feel comfortable.

[mzteris]

7. well there's ONE thing

to be said about putting all the books "face out" -

I don't get that CRICK in my neck/back I usually get from walking up and down the aisles with my head tilted to the right. And when you get tri/bi/focals - it can be a real bitch trying to read those titles on the lower shelves! And no - I can't just squat down and get back up to read the bottom shelf! I need help getting up! Sometimes I just sit and kinda crawl along the floor so I can see the books on the bottom. (And I wonder why the boys never want to stay with me in the bookstore...)

:rofl:

[Sugar Smack]

23. No pain, no gain, mzteris. Get binoculars! : )

I'm just kidding. Heh! I've crawled a bookstore floor before & there's no shame in it. People seem to really make themselves comfortable in these places. Myself, I'm only a little irked when I'm forced to step over people who've decided to take a nap in the aisle of the Self-Help section. LOL!

[asthmaticeog]

10. Oh, boy, do I ever know THAT compulsion.

Last payday, I cut out of work early to go to Borders to pick up a book someone had recommended to me. Borders didn't have it and it would have taken 7 days, at least, to get it in. I bought two other books and a magazine. Undaunted, I drove up the street to where one of those shopping centers contrived to look like the Disneyworld version of a quaint little town has been built, because even though I haven't been there, you just KNOW a B&N can't be too far from any given Borders. And yes, there it was. I bought the book I was originally seeking, another for my 3-year-old godson, yet another for myself, and a book of crossword puzzles. I blew all my mad money for the next two weeks in one and a half hours on payday.

I really need to be kept away from bookstores.

[Sugar Smack]

25. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? : D

Yea! :bounce: :toast: And I loved your response. The "Disneyworld version of a quaint little town" is exactly what my father and I confronted when we went to the 1st bookstore. He glanced at me with a faint moue of disgust at the store when we went in, and he's not prone to public displays. Frankly, I need to be kept away from bookstores as well and I reserve a day or so each month for my recklessness.

How happy were you, though, when you finally got home with your loot and tore into it? VERY happy, I'm supposing. :hi:

[asthmaticeog]

27. I've been really well, thanks!

How 'bout you?

And yeah, tearing through the loot was a joy I'd nearly forgotten. I'd been bogged down in payments for a couple of years, but I finished paying off a big debt recently, so the bookstores beckoned to me like never before last week. I think now I better understand why ex-junkies binge so hard when they relapse.

But now I've spent the last two weeks in the rocking chair on my porch reading John Dean, Greg Palast and Ron Suskind, and completing *shloads* of crosswords. Talk about ultimate slacker bliss!

[Sugar Smack]

44. Oh, I've been great. I spent 3 weeks in the Keys and

there was ample free time. I couldn't BELIEVE my good luck that there was a used bookstore WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE of my hotel room. And they were having a sale, yet. And all paperbacks were a dollar, yet. And the variety was huge! I'll never forget walking in there for the first time. Can you imagine my greed? Well, I turned to the owner open-mouthed and faintly thanked her (for this buzz I was getting). Spent like 2 hours in there and later spread the books all over my bed, wondering which to read first.

Crosswords? Don't get me started! *lol* Love them.

[asthmaticeog]

46. *jealous*

Damn. Just, damn. :thumbsup:

[Dinger]

13. The Local Barnes & Noble Is Worse Than A Casino For Me

Gotta be careful when I go in there. I spend at least $1000 there a year.

[Sugar Smack]

26. Paperback Fiction = Roulette

For me, anyway. What attracts you to certain books you've never seen before? For me, It's the title. If I can't make sense of the title from the spine, I'll pull it out and glance at the picture on the cover. Then I'll look at the back. I've always liked Dean Koontz, for example, but the back only features pictures of him and no explanatory blurb. When you look for one, all you get is "Rave Reviews". That's frustrating. I'm attracted to a really good description on the back, and a little suspense.:)

[RetroLounge]

21. Support your local INDEPENDENT bookstore!

that is all...

RL

[Sugar Smack]

29. There's one in Durham that's the creme of indie bookstores.

It's called The Regulator. The owners know what they're doing. 2 floors PACKED with books, and always something for everyone. I have a love/hate relationship with B&N. I used to work in one. The managers talked frequently about "moving product"--> not "selling books". It was as though the souls had been sucked out of all the precious books in the store to hear these japes talk. WTF?

And guess where I was placed when I worked there? The cafe. Bussed tables in a bookstore. I later worked at the Intimate Bookshop, founded in 1965, at Eastgate for a pay-cut and enjoyed myself more than ever. It's been closed for a while now.

[RetroLounge]

38. My Bookstore plan fell thru

but it is still something i will pursue, just not in the same fashion.

RL

[Sugar Smack]

41. WHA?? I'm so sorry.

Please keep up the pursuit. I believe that this is your moment, RL. Even if you keep it in the back of your mind. That would be my dream as well, if you must know *lol*. Having a bookstore to manage sounds like a really good deal.

The VERY best of luck to you, my dear.

[RetroLounge]

42. Oh, it's not going to go away...

I just need to figure out if i want to do it alone or with a new partner.

Today, there is no one else i can see doing it with but her, so i need to wait a bit...

RL

[swimboy]

83. I find what I'm looking for on Amazon and then go down the hill

to the Local independently owned bookstore and order it from them!

:hi:

[terrya]

24. I hear you

And since the chains (Borders, Barnes and Noble) put in coffee shops, bookstores have become even more complusive. I could easily spend the day in a bookstore. Easily. Particularly something like Borders...where not only do they sell books, but CD's, DVD's....

I do know what you mean. There's nothing like spending a lot of time, persuing over books, finding several that grab your eye, eagerly going to buy them. There's nothing like it.

[Sugar Smack]

37. Oh, you're so right. There's nothing like it.

Eagerly going to buy them and then getting out the door to go and read them is a great feeling. My sense of it is this: I get so excited sometimes over a new book that I feel a combination of greed and embarrassment, though there's never a need to feel embarrassed. It's just that my heart's on my sleeve in a VERY PUBLIC PLACE. Even when others are immersed in their own reading, I crave instant privacy to allow me to grin & laugh out loud.

I've been known to WHOOP out loud when I see a title I've been searching for. :P

[YankeyMCC]

28. I'm right there with you

in fact I was thinking this last night. We went out with friends and lingered around Harvard Square it was getting late and we should've headed home but we decided to make one last stop at the Harvard Book store...

Well I could happily spend several days in that place so we stay out much longer than planned and of course I had to buy something despite the stack of waiting books I already have at home.

[yellowdogintexas]

33. Harvard Square: the Nirvana of book lovers!!!! I used to work

in the Square and spent my lunch hours patrolling the various book vendors. Where else can you cruise as many bookstores in so little space. Took my hubby, niece, sisters and daughter through the square a couple of years ago. Much has changed since I lived there but there are STILL enough bookstores to support a couple of small nations

[Sugar Smack]

45. "One last stop"

Hahahahaha!! That's me, going in for a "peek". or "stepping in for a minute". To my family and friends, those units of time are meaningless. I'm transparent; you can read the utter seduction of a bookstore all over my face. "Five minutes" lead to twenty lead to thirty.

I remember very clearly the wild-eyed look of some customers when I worked at B&N. I really liked the ones who babbled at me about their purchases because I knew that they'd found happiness and were about to delve into something good.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. It is just not healthy for me to enter a bookstore..I am a goner!

I have Borders and B&N within 5 mnutes of my house. There is a Half Price also very near and a great little booktrader maybe 15 minutes away.

I could open my own damn bookstore with what lines the walls of my house. Bet I have more books than your minimalist bookstore, the very idea. ARe the books being used as decor? Or props to invite coffee drinkers?

My most favoritest bookstore when I was younger was Mills in Nashville. I could hang in there for days. The staff knew where everything was but it had this homey cluttered look, not dusty but you got the idea it SHOULD have been just a little dusty...things looked random but weren't. I loved it. I killed many an hour in my teens after orthodontist appointments in that bookstore, while waiting for the Greyhound to take me home to Kentucky.

Nothing like a good afternoon well spent in the land of reading.

[Sugar Smack]

48. OK- That was perfect.

"I could open my own damn bookstore with what lines the walls of my house. Bet I have more books than your minimalist bookstore, the very idea. ARe the books being used as decor? Or props to invite coffee drinkers?"

Perfect.

You wrote what I was thinking as I scanned the place. I have five times more books than that store had. I'm not very good with a poker-face, so I must have appeared confounded as I walked around. My father was visibly searching for "the rest of the bookstore", I noticed. All that was behind the other door was the bathroom (small, clean, potpourri, ubiquitous Monet print *gasp! water lilies!*, lavender soap, and motion-activated-yet-broken paper towel dispenser.

I'll tell you, that was a record-short time I'd spent in a shop.:rofl:

[GOPisEvil]

31. When I'm bored, have some time to kill, and want to get out of the house..

nothing beats a good book store. What's better is a great independent bookstore across the street from a great independent record store. If you're ever at 6th and Lamar in Austin:

www.bookpeople.com
www.waterloorecords.com

[yellowdogintexas]

34. thanks for the tip GOPisEvil. I would hope Austin would have

indy stores...a large university will provide the customer base that is for certain.

If I lived in Louisville I would buy all my books at Hawley Cooke Booksellers, an indy mini chain which has managed to flourish despite the big chains.

And I went to college with the owners

[Sugar Smack]

49. Dave!!

:hi:

The publisher picks on that site were great. You remember when we were in DC? My only regret from that weekend was not being able to stop into Kramerbooks & Afterwords on Dupont Circle. That's been a favorite of mine for years. I think partially because when I was a tender teenager, strangers sometimes mistook me for a store employee. For fun, I'd help them out if I could.

[GOPisEvil]

63. That's one area of town I never spent much time in.

It's a great area. I could get into serious trouble at places like that. :hi:

Funny, though, I think Dupont Circle needs a good indie record store. ;)

I'm really fortunate to have such a bookstore here. They also have great hand-made greeting cards, gifts, a coffee-shop, etc.

[RetroLounge]

39. Have you found this website yet?

http://www.librarything.com/

RL

[Sugar Smack]

51. OMG. Somebody handcuff me.

I have no business wandering into a site wherein I can find people who have read the same (and sometimes obscure) books that I have. No business. I will without exaggeration spend the rest of my day there. IRL and in person, I can get very involved in conversation with someone about a particular book. Yesterday I went to a cafe with a friend. We started talkig about a book and when I checked my watch, an hour had passed.

:wow:

[RetroLounge]

53. I started catalogueing my books

it is very addictive...

http://www.librarything.com/profile/paugust

RL

[Sugar Smack]

56. YOU HAVE

Betty Crocker's Party Book? AWESOME. I had a used copy that I bought just for the stylized 60's drawings. My best friend and her husband are gaga for that stuff too. They're into the tiki culture & decoration as well. That book, added to their avocado shag rug, stylized seventies lamps and cocktail parties really made a hit when I brought it over & gave it to them.

I'm going to continue reading your list and get a nice glimpse of your soul.B-)

[RetroLounge]

57. Careful. My Soul likes to hide among the pages...

and jump out and say 'Boo'

RL

[swimboy]

85. The Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook

My Mom sent off for that with Cheerios boxtops. I was so excited when it arrived and when she told me it was for my cousin Barbara I pitched one of my very few all-out whining and crying fits and, I can't tell you why this is, it succeeded. The book is mine, treasured to this day. The cookie pages are falling out.

When mr.swim and I combined households, guess what we discovered? Yep, our two copies of the book (his is spiral bound, but same edition) are side-by-side on our cookbook shelves.







I am going to spend so much time on that site, RL, if I start messing around there. What a temptation!

:hug:

[progmom]

84. gasp!!!

i LOVE it!

now i want the same thing for music!

[swimboy]

86. This is going to consume hours and hours

upon rapturous hours!!! :D

:loveya:

[RetroLounge]

87. rapturous indeed...

:hi:

RL

[JitterbugPerfume]

47. I recently ran into a GOOD sale

buy three get the forth book FREE I bought eight

had to put them on my credit card , but I don't care !!:spank:


That is something I made a solemn vow to QIUT DOING

[Sugar Smack]

50. Such a bittersweet feeling, right?

"Mmm. I'm out 40 bucks, but LOOK! Here we confront the happy problem of what to read first, then next."

You know when in my original message I said I only got one book? Well, that was kind of a lie. I actually bought four. :blush:

[JitterbugPerfume]

80. I suspected as much

NO real book lover can stop with just ONE:)

[jpgray]

52. I'm a library bum myself

I even have a "connection" at Macalester's library. :D

[Sugar Smack]

54. What miscreants do you have scurrying thru the stacks at your behest?

You must be very pursuasive, or lucky, or both. I need some help in libraries, but never in a book store.

In Waldenbooks, I'm approached regularly as I set foot in the door by employees. Too small a store, in my estimation. The only book store in our pathetic mall compared to the dozen or so shoe stores. I get approached by the staff: "Can I help you find anything?" or sometimes, "Don't walk under the ladder; it's bad luck".:D :D

[tigereye]

55. ah, I have heard about those "fake" bookstores!

there is one near my husband's new office. Much prefer the old school, dusty, endless rows of books, get lost in there all day kind of bookstore, of which there are fewer and fewer, at least where I live. The chains have driven many of them out of business. However, there is one on our Southside where the owners actually took all their own books and opened a great used bookstore... it's a lot of fun. I often joke that I too could open one with all of the books that we have in our house.


for the record, people who have no books in their houses scare me. ;) also, we just ordered a bunch of stuff online from Powells in Portland.... so this thread was perfiectly timed!

[Sugar Smack]

59. Hey, what if you and I got together and

put our collections in one building and set out a coffee maker? And then we could put a few comfy chairs and a coffee table and a computer in? Then we could cover the walls with ethnic rugs, mirrors, and artwork. Tiki torches outside and patio tables near the garden outside the goldfish pond. Open 24 hours!

I'm seeing only one teeny problem here: My reluctance to let go of certain books. Can you see it? "Oh, The Curse of Lono isn't for sale. Sorry 'bout that"*grab* and "I remember when I bought that paperback. It's out of print now. That's like my FAVORITE BOOK EVER. That'll be four thousand dollars, please."

:rofl: :pals: :yourock:

[tigereye]

68. I tend to picture the dusty comfy, cat around my feet at the check-out

type of place and I usually add in the mystery solving proprietress vibe, like in a lot of the mysteries I like to read. But I also know a lot of people who have worked in or managed bookstores, and then I have to adjust my expectations to figure in the selling of horrifying best-sellers and how I would feel I had to say to people, but why do you read Danielle Steele and Dan Brown when there are 5-10 wonderful writers right here whom I think you should read.... or the invoices and the hiring of staff and the accountant....

actually there was a woman here who runs a mystery bookstore and at one point it was for sale, it was fun to fantasize about that, despite the lack of funds to acquire said business...


:hi:

[grasswire]

58. great bargains await at rummage sales....

...and estate sales.

Last night I went to a monthly rummage sale at the local Eagles Lodge. A bookseller brings boxes every month and sells all books for a buck. There are obscure histories, coffee table books, cookbooks, art books and all kinds of twenty dollar books there, all for a buck. Amazing.

I've been to estate sales where there are thousands of very desirable books very cheap.

[Sugar Smack]

60. Have you been to a library sale?

For gentler souls, it's like being a toddler thrust onto a roller derby floor or tossed into a lacrosse game. I went to one on days one and three one weekend. Ordinary people who might mind your presence in a grocery store would PLOW through to get what they wanted. Never helped the organization of the already sloshed-together tables either. I maintained a few elbow-to-stomach injuries day one but survived. Savages.

Day three I went back, and the vultures had picked it all apart. Here's what was left: Miss Manners Guide to Etiquitte (HAHA), Games People Play, What Color is Your Parachute (1977), Love Story, and Better Homes & Gardens: Cooking with Carrots.

:o

[grasswire]

82. yes, and book dealers are very aggressive at sales

They make me quite mad, in fact. They race through, pulling every book that looks promising into boxes before others get a chance to barely even look, and then they take their time to go through the books later and cull out the not-so-good ones they grabbed. They often work with a partner who tends the boxes as they quickly fill them up. They're all elbows and no manners. One of them cussed me out when I complained about the rapid-fire grabbing of books. They're the worst.

[hfojvt]

61. actually the owners probably chose to spread their inventory around

trying to hide that they have not built up a solid inventory yet. When I had more space than books I used to turn select books "cover out" the idea being to promote a specific book or specific author.

I loathed places like Borders with their corporate financing and big city traffic. I could not compete with that. Seven years I kept my store open in that small town, at a loss of about $500 per year. Since one of my specialties was special ordering, I figured Amazon and other huge dot coms were also gonna take a bite outta my future income. Heck, that's where I am getting most of my books now, but it's a better alternative than the RW chain store.

[Sugar Smack]

62. Wow. I feel for you. Upthread, RL says,

"Support Independent Bookstores". I agree with that and the one I went into yesterday was the rare exception. The thing is, they'd been there for about a year and had had ample time to acquire a really good stock. In another Indie bookstore you might find:

Fiction
History
Art
Cookbooks
Social Studies
True Crime
Children's
Teens
History
Religion
Self-Help
Local
Gardening
Film
Music
Auto
Reference
and Sci-Fi

This one only had 4 or so categories:

Extremely limited Fiction
Quaint
Children's
and Quaint Local

I admire you for taking on a business which faces constant threat of extinction but which has many other rewards.

:toast:

[hfojvt]

66. wow that is pretty lame

and after a year. I figured they were just starting out.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

64. Just logged off of Amazon

Mr 'pede saw a barbecue cookbook on the teevee that he wanted to get. He located it on Amazon and is trying to figure out how to pay for it. He comes into the BR (where I'm reading, natch) and asks "Do we have an Amazon account? They're asking for the password." Well, WE don't but I do, so it's off the the computer to help him with his purchase. I enter the password and add his book to the cart, but of course I can't stop there. Gotta look around. Wound up adding Matt Simmons' "Twilight in the Desert." But I got free shipping.

[Sugar Smack]

65. It's the "looking around" that will snag you

every time. Even when you know exactly what you're looking for, sometimes it takes an extraordinary amount of willpower to avoid anything else.:)

[Book Lover]

70. Sounds like they made a small, prudent investment, rather than

filling up on stock they might not ever be able to move. Should they have spent thousands of dollars they would have to borrow so that you could see a ton of books? And now that you took your book-buying dollars to the big chain, they are out even more revenue.

(PS - did you mean "impression" instead of "vocation"?)

[Sugar Smack]

71. "vocation" = "occupation", so no.

Should they have spent thousands of dollars they would have to borrow so that *I* could see a ton of books? Certainly not. But, I suppose your misunderstanding of my point came in not actually reading people's responses and my responses to them in this thread. Had you done that, you would have realized that I fully support indie and used bookstores, that the trip to Borders was an abberation, and that that store only had four categories of books.

[Book Lover]

77. One for you, one for me

Yes, I did not read all 70 replies to your original message. I feel no need to apologize.

And as I do so enjoy my position as grammar police, I have to point out that you still make no sense: "... you leave bookstores with the occupation of being as densely-packed with..."

[Sugar Smack]

79. You need not read all 70 replies.

You need only read one or two to get the point. Who asked you to apologize? Who cares? My use of the word "occupation" is archaic, but that hardly matters either. It doesn't take much to get you wound up, does it? A thread about a trip into a bookstore and finding a great book. I'd hate to see you in a real crisis.

[billyskank]

72. !!!

:*

:hug: :hug: :hug:

:loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

73. Hey little bijoux!

Kissy-kissy! How've you been? How sweet it is to see you. Have you taken any vacations or retreats this summer?

:hug: :hug: :hug: :loveya:

[billyskank]

75. Funny you should ask

I just (literally an hour ago) returned home from two weeks in Vancouver! I saw yvr girl, u4ic and HEyHEY. All of whom rock. :)

I am completely shattered, so much so it feels like my flat is moving :crazy:

:hug: I missed you! :loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

76. WOW. I've heard wonderful things about Vancouver.

Lucky you and lucky yvr girl, u4ic and HEyHEY! And two weeks to take it all in. I've been away myself. I went to the Florida Keys for 3 weeks, and it was beautiful. I feel like a new person after that. Get some sleep, sweetie. I've missed you too!:* :* :* :* :*

[XemaSab]

74. Frequently I go to the bookstore

and there is so much there I want that I turn around and go home.

Complete sensory overload. :(

[Sugar Smack]

78. There are a lot of stores that tend to give me sensory overload,

but book stores aren't one of them. I usually feel a little overwhelmed when I go into a large clothing store.