Support your local library!
But also, support your local small bookseller. On a recent trip to Chicago, I visited the most amazing shop. Bookman's Alley in Evanston is everything a bookstore should be. Surly/friendly shopkeepers, miles (perhaps exaggerated, but only slightly) of old and also some contemporary tomes, various vintage and antique items throughout the store - printing press, circa 1920s swimsuit (of course!), and piles of black and white stage photos. But they were closing their doors. As did Murder Ink, the mystery bookstore back in New York that was one block from my house. The wooden treaded shop that housed Gus, the fuzzy old dog. I loved that place. LOVED. Attached was a more general-themed shop, Ivy's Books. And between the two, I could spend hours and end up with a book no longer in print from Wallace Stegner, a few small Edward Gorey books and a mystery out of Denmark.
 |
| Thank you NY Times! |
I think I do a decent job of supporting my library and my local bookstores, but sometimes I feel rather guilty when I have ten books in a pile in its protective sterile covering from the library. I can't fold down the pages. I can't scribble in the margins. And most important, and don't even ask me why it is the most important - it just is; I can't have those beauitiful spines look down on my from my filled-to-the-brim built-in dream bookshelves of lore.
Which do you prefer? The library? The local bookshop? Amazon?
What are your favorite indie bookshops? Maybe I will start a list. Help me out on that please!
4 comments:
Powell's! Elliott Bay! There are so many great shops here in the northwest.
I feel your angst on this one. I'm a big library borrower, only because I read so much that the cost of books add up. BUT when my favorite authors release new books, I buy them. Since I don't live in the city, I buy from Amazon or B&N. I wish there was a local bookstore near me, but they all seem to gravitate toward Seattle and not out into the suburbs. I wish I had a favorite indie bookstore near me, I love the romantic idea of roaming the aisles and looking for something new to read.
I have to say The Strand in New York is pretty amazing. And there are a lot of small bookstores that I don't even know the name of that are tucked away in the city that I love. The library IS great, but I, like you, really want to own books!
I second Powell's for both new and used and way too many miles of books. I got lost.
Out here in CA are a couple of Mysterious Galaxy stores (sci fi/fantasy mostly). They are new only, but have a lot of signings and are awesome.
Both are online. I love the library, but I hate the time limit and I like to own and lend my books and generally covet them. Crazy.
Post a Comment