My local Borders lingers still. It has a few shelves of books. The adult fiction section would fit in my living room. I often do some shopping in the center where the store is located so I go in and check it out. And then I walk out empty-handed. The best buy I've found in the last few weeks of its slow demise is the stack of AP study guides my daughter needs for her current high school classes. The store is filled with cheap, but still over-priced, towels and other things that have never belonged in a bookstore.
I miss sitting the cafe and if it was still open, I would likely be writing this blog post there with an iced latte sharing the table with me along with a stack of books I was considering purchasing. Instead, I've visited my local library on a more regular basis. Nearly every two weeks I stop in and see what new releases they have and prowl the aisles in search of new authors. Their fantasy/scifi offerings are limited and they seldom updated but I've discovered some mystery/thriller writers I've quite come to enjoy like CJ Box and Jonathan Kellerman. Of course the library doesn't carry their earlier books so I've turned to online sellers.
My husband bought me a Kobo eReader for Christmas last year and I was thrilled with it though I often wish I'd asked him for a Kindle instead. But it's easy to purchase books on and I like reading on it. So I'm still buying books and spending less gas to do so. I make a lot of ice coffee at home and do nearly all my writing at my own desk.
So though Borders is gone, I'm not reading less though I've bought no physical books for my own reading pleasure in the past few weeks. I'm probably going to buy the next Preston and Childs book tomorrow to read at lunch at work this week. I'm over my sadness at the end of Borders and only worry that I've adjusted so well. If all brick and mortar stores go extinct, will I get over it so quickly? Will you? Do you see the end in sight?
11 comments:
I guess I was prepared for the decline, as I've belonged to the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club for years and was purchasing most of my books from Amazon. Enter my iPad a year and a half ago, and now my purchases are strictly ebooks.
Oh, and the latest Pendergast tale is good but not great.
I still haven't gotten on board fully with the e-book craze. I think I've downloaded three or four books to my phone using a Kindle app. Maybe if I had an ipad I'd be more enthusiastic, but for now I still prefer paper books.
My Borders is still open too. I think it was one that actually performed pretty well, and they are shipping items to this store from others that are now closed. It is sad to see it go, but I'm fortunate to still have a Barnes and Noble and several independent stores I can go to, though they are farther away. I suppose I take it for granted that they will always be there, but who knows.
Perhaps some day we'll get to a point where there are no more brick and mortar stores, but I don't think so. Humans like comfort, and for many a solid book is a thing of comfort. We may pay more for it, but I think we'll always have our books and bookstores in some form. Fingers crossed.
I haven't been to the Strip Mall where they were located for over a month. I've always used my library and since they're starting ebook loans I'll probably use them more.
I love my Kindle but I still love holding books.
I hear we're getting a Books-a-Million or something like that.
I think we'll always have physical books, although they will be ordered through Amazon and produced as Print On Demand. I'm also going yo buy Preston/Child's next book too. Enjoy.
There'll always be books on shelves somewhere, but maybe only in stores like Target, etc. Whether those stores would be open to signings or other promotional events, who knows? Maybe it would be worth proposing. All store managers, whether strictly bookstores or not, need to come up with some creative ideas to get people inside their doors. I still think the industry upheaval's too unpredictable to venture an accurate guess as to where it will all end up. So long as readers want new reads, businesses will find a way to get it to them.
A new coffee shop is going in near us. I hope it's a comfortable place to hang out. I bought two more ebooks today, and last week I bought three from writers who comment regularly on my blog. I can't wait to read them.
I was in our local B&N last week and I felt like the entire center of the store was a "Toys-R-Us". On a brighter note there is a new coffeehouse/used book store on the square in Mechanicsburg (Books and Brew) that would benefit from our support. Gotta keep on trying!
My local Borders has been closed for over a week now. I still look at it whenever I drive by because I miss it.
The closing of bookshops hasn't impacted me in a big way because I have a kindle now and buy most of my books online. The only hardcopy books I buy now are ones on special.
Our Borders has been gone for a long time. My local is a Barnes and Noble. It will break my heart if it goes away.
On a happier note - I have an award for you waiting on my blog. Hop over and pick it up when you get a chance.
I wonder if books will become collector's items of the near future and people will be showing them off like art collections.
I know I'm not in any hurry to get rid of mine.
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