Amazon vs Independent Book Stores

Just yesterday I worked on my tan while reading a book!

Happy to be a part of your positive experience, mama!

Had a nice afternoon with my wife, a cup of tea and looking at some "picture books" from Great Britain in our local bookshop. (Kind of preparing our London/England holidays next week.)
Impossible to do such at amazon!

I tried very hard to support local bookstores rather than shop on line. Unfortunately the life expectancy of a bookstore within an hour's drive seems to be less than a year whether the store sells new books or second hand.

Part of the problem is that minimum wage clerks aren't necessarily readers--and when they are not, they seem to be completely uninterested in helping readers spend money.

The library is a regular haunt in my life--I make at least 52 visits a year. I also read fantasy and science fiction and buy between 120 and 150 paperbacks every year.

For years I dealt with The Science Fiction shop in NYC. I could call with my monthly order and come the next day the UPS truck would be chug-chugging up the driveway. Unfortunately, they went under.

Now I use Amazon. I don't get a discount on paperbacks there anymore, but my orders generally qualify for free shipping. Further, I figure I owe Amazon some cash money since I research most of my Inter Library Loan Requests through Amazon.

For second hand books, there are two local stores currently struggling and when I want to shop by list rather than by what is on the shelves, I use:

www.pandora.ca/pandora

They specialize in fantasy, science fiction, mysteries and murder--and are very pleasant people to deal with.

Unfortunately, mama J, the A2K forums are not an accurate reflection of the rest of the country nor, for that matter, the rest of the world. We few form a bright and sunny island in a murky sea of 'reality' programing.

[[ basking on a bright and sunny island with a big big big pile of books, listening to the cbc on my grundig shortwave radio and snapping my fingers on the back beat :wink: ]]

So I log on because I can't sleep (it was that or open a book....but I think that book's the reason I can't sleep) and I cross paths with a thread that's not only right up my alley but reminds me of a wonderful day spent with friends. Beth, do you remember getting caught in a downpour as we left the book shop and the shopkeeper hurriedly trying to cover the tables he'd set outside with tarps so as not to lose his inventory?

I like to browse on both Amazon and bn.com when I'm looking for reviews but I seldom purchase with them. The hazard to bn.com is that every so often the whim will strike me to just purchase my entire wish list. Waldenbooks is conveniently located and has a frequent shopper program. However, my favorite is the nearby "Annie's Book Stop," a used book store that's within walking distance.

I think I may have just figured out why I have about a hundred books I haven't read.

The best books are the ones I look forward too,
that way I will always be young.
There is so much to read all around us.

But even in life, don't you ever want to skim and read ahead?
Each day, it's so hard to put it down.

Amazon.com doesn't carry the book that each of us writes,
but the corner bookshop, with coffee and a comfy chair
carries us, our selves, and carries us away.

Some people will browse and grow forever.
C'est la vie. Turn the page.

TerryDoo - i remember that downpour so well, and that little ferret loving everyone's stinky feet - it was a grand grand day - i was very sad i couldn't connect with you when i went back last year.

You hooked me on lemonheads later that same day - will i be able to forgive you for that? whyyyyyyyyy of course!

Lemonheads?! MMMMMMMMMMM!

Why, CodeBorg, that's poetic! Really, really nice...

Amazon vs independent book stores
I frequently buy from Amazon (if you do this via a2k then a2k will benefit). I buy from them mainly because it's easy to find very low-priced books since Amazon has an arrangement for getting titles from other dealers.

I also buy from a weird local place called "The New England Mobil Book Fair" - a real rabbit warren of aisles and niches and teeny little rooms. Why Mobil, I have no idea - it's set squarely on the ground and looks like a firetrap, but no wheels anywhere in sight. It has everything and a good discount rate.

It's a tossup at times whether to go the Amazon route and pay shipping, or the Book Fair and pay tax.

I buy almost everything online. Even groceries. I'd rather save the time I'd spend shopping for a bar or somesuch. I only buy stuff like clothes offline. And even then I am in too much of a hurry to try anything on.

I also have no patience to return anything so if it doesn't fit or something I'm up a creek. It's very hit or miss.

I hate that things take a while to get to me when i order online but the tradeoff is that I can, on impulse, immediately buy anything. And it comes in a few days.

since I'd take a few days to find time to go to a store it ends up breaking even.

Me too. Well, I buy grocs locally. Hate shopping.

I buy almost everything online as well. In fact, when I got my first computer the first website I visited was peapod.com. (I absolutely HATE the grocery store!) It must have something to do with the whole "working in retail" thing. If I don't have to venture out of my own store and into the mall I'd rather not. Still, I'd rather buy books in person. I love the smell of a bookstore and the feel of the books. It's all very Zen for me.

Amazon ve independent
I meant "Mobile", not "Mobil" - sorry.

Tk--I wondered why one would choose to purchase books at a gas station.

Gosh! I thought I was turning into somewhat of a shut-in, but I still go to the grocery, bakery, and so forth. Doesn't all this on-line shopping preclude social interactions? Or maybe that's a good thing...

TK -- where is this Mobil(e) place?

D'Art -- I'm with you. I love to go grocery shopping. All the checkout girls know me and we flirt like mad!

I'm with you, Merry Andrew. Some days, visting my friends who work in shops constitutes the bulk of my socializing. I could never give it up!