I want my bookstore baaaaack

[tanithryudo]

Both the major bookstores in my city have closed. Borders, I expected, since didn't it go bankrupt or get bought out? Barnes & Noble closing surprised me though. Of course, now the closest bookstore to where I live is now in Dublin. Or Palo Alto, if I'm willing to pay the bridge toll.

Yes, yes, I know Amazon and e-books is the new wave and whatever, but the unfortunate fact that only accounts for a tiny portion of stuff that a bookstore offers. Especially since the main reasons I up and go to bookstores are:

- Manga. *Not* going to ebooks anytime soon.

- Reading new release novels to see if I like them before buying. Pretty much all of my books I've already read at least once before finally deciding on buying. How else would you know if it's a waste of money? Unfortunately, you can't preview a whole book with e-readers.

- Cafes & air conditioning... especially with the California summer creeping up.

I wonder if bookstores are having just as bad a time in college towns. I do recall the B&N in Cal closed pretty soon after I left. It would be a very sad thing for bookstores to go the way of the buggy. T_T

Comments

[ossian.insanejournal.com]

My condolences. Such a pity. It's a shame you are losing your access to books like this. I would go nuts if I didn't have any bookstores to visit. There are like 5 or 6 of them within very easy reach of me. Even though I do shop for books online, I vastly prefer buying them in person. However, with my book storage capacity all but maxed out, I will eventually have to give in and start using my eBook reader for new releases.

[tanithryudo.insanejournal.com]

*envious*

What are the major bookstores you have up north?

[ossian.insanejournal.com]

Chapters Indigo is Canada's major book retailer. They hsve like a dozen outlets in Edmonton alone. I live three blocks away from one of their smaller stores.. We don't have any American-owned book chains here that i'm aware of.