Are book stores over?

I thoroughly support small businesses that are locally owned. The town that I live in has a used book store that contains gems while the college town just a hop skip and jump away has an excellent new bookstore and wonderful used bookstore.

However, a good friend works at Barnes and Nobles and I had her order the Tenth Anniversary cd for Les Miserables and I adore Colm Wilkinson as JVJ. Sometimes, I need B&N.

BTW, I hated the movie You've Got Mail because it was basically an homage to the large chain bookstore. I hated the idea of this poor woman losing the business her mother had so lovingly founded and maintained.

I hated losing the interesting independent bookstores in real life. Borders and the rest were never anywhere near as good, which is why I will not be too sad if they go away.

I once found a bookmark in a second hand book issued by Freddy's Read and Feed in Missoula,MT. It was adorned with a drawing of Freddy the Pig - the first detective series I ever followed. If I am ever in Missoula, I'll look them up.

My x's family lived in Missoula. Never been there myself.

On used books and bookmarks, I'm sort of sorry I never started saving them. Poems, prayers, and much else. In general I cringe (or worse, get enraged) when people mark up a book. Every so often though, the marks are interesting, ticks by someone pretty observant.

I've collected - by the fact that I like a lot of what soho publishes - about forty of the soho crime books. One is marked up, which I suppose makes it totally valueless - but the marker was a smartie.

The bookstore maybe going the way of the daily newspaper.

I for one will always buy the printed version of the NYTimes . I can't stand to read the paper online.

Bookstores and books seem to be on the way out primarily because of the economy and simply because so many individuals have lost interest in reading.

I love to read and because of B&N I can buy $30 mysteries for $15 or less.

Walgreens ( all things considered ) sometimes has a decent selection of paperbackcs. But, the cost of most paperbacks ( fiction ) is in the area of about $10.

newspapers are over, only old people read them.
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/chartland.php?id=992&ct=line&dir=&sort=&c1=1&c2=1&c3=0&c4=0&c5=0&c6=0&c7=0&c8=0&c9=0&c10=0&d3=0&dd3=1

Its funny that The Atlantic said the same thing. ITS JUST DEVIANT MARKETING. When you are manipulated to the extent that you believe all that bullshit, you are just the type who will buy Hot Pockets and think that they are a food group.

Apple.

I like Barnes and Noble more than any local bookstore Ive ever been too. They have most everything I've ever wanted, and what I haven't been able to find, amazon or eBay has. I expect that B&N will be around for a while. They just came out with their own ebook, the nook, and their online site is far superior to Amazons.

I also don't see myself moving to an ebook any time soon. I vastly prefer the paper book. I'm not some technophobe either, but the benefits of an ebook simply do not outweigh the cost. I also don't like not physically owning the book. You can't lend them to friends. You can't sell them on the secondary market. You can't put them on the bookshelf.

Also, I really hate the digital rights crap, and I don't trust that a book I buy on some format will be around in 40 years when I want to give the book to my grandchildren to read.

And there is now way I'd ever pay more than $1-3 for an ebook. If a paperback book is profitable at $6 than an ebook should be equally profitable at $1-3.

A friend bought an e-book and several weeks later he is still trying to get it to download correctly because of all the software they have encrypted in it to make sure you dont print it out and sell it, or copy it for your friends. Really fun stuff if you like to watch people slowly driven mad by computers and faulty back-up service.

I have to agree with you on that one. As a woman over 60, I would also buy CDs over MP3s if I could afford them.

I love used bookstores. A few years ago, I decided to collect the complete works of Simone de Beauvoir and, thanks to used bookstores, I could. My fav has had to move several times. They were in a rather inconvenient place for about 20 years: a basement location on a side street behind Harvard Sq. Then they moved to Davis Sq in Somerville but were ousted when another merchant offered more money for the place. As the owners were nearing retirement age, I assumed the store would be gone forever but it resurfaced in Cambridge after I moved away.

We had two movie rental places in my town until this month when both closed on the same day. I had rented some dvd's from the smaller of the two, run by a couple who were also members of a rock band and who have a one year old daughter who played and slept in the store with either mom or dad.

As I worked seven days a week for a long time, I stopped renting movies. However, I prefer being one of those little people in the dark and would rather go to the theatre if I could. I can't afford Netflix but there is hulu.com and linktv.org. But watching movies on the computer is unpleasant.

I just bought my granddaughters a "color and listen" book of children's poetry at the local independent. It is that sort of discovery that makes the independents worthwhile.

I just received a letter from B&N telling me that as of 4/30/10, because I'm a member of the B&N club, I'll get free express shipping on BN.com with no minimum purchase. I t used to be free shipping if you bought at least $25 in goodies.

my wife reads A LOT, she bought a Kindle a few months back, and loves it.

The Tattered Cover had to move to LODO from Cherry Creek. The mall rent was too costly. They also have a another store on E Colfax.

Still a good bookstore, they frequently get discount technical books--picked up a good book there on abstract algebra that wasn't an idiot's guide.

IMHO the Tattered Cover is one of the best stores in Denver.

Rap

B&N = bondage and nazism ? Your accent is stopping me from keeping up.

Delete previous...Barnes and Noble.

Bondage and nazism? Lord help me.

I just bought "The Bridge" by David Remick. Total pages are over 600.

As you know, this book is about President Obama. Book is about $30, but if you're a member of the Barnes and Nobel Club , the cost is about $17.