Ah, the Newbury's nearest me kind of suck. All they seem to carry are clothes, toys and other junky things that I do not need. I am envious of your Newbury!
I think my husband did that for awhile with The Walking Dead and my son loves the Newbury store for the LP's and other stuff. We have a little indy comic store nearby that I prefer because they mostly sell comics and have a lot of the horror stuff I like.
I didn't realize it at the time, but, yeah, I felt uncomfortable enough to go back for years. And yeah, my Newbury isn't all books: the majority are other things. But the clothes/toys/etc are mostly comic book/fandom related, so much is book related.
Plus, they're my weekly comic supplier. The one nearby that I feel comfortable going to, so it's my favorite book place to go when I'm stressed.
I used to walk around the book section of Hastings for peace of mind. Literally - it's where I practically ran to after going to a coworker's sweet husband's viewing, after his sudden death. I never really people watched, just soaked in the books.
Libraries can have a similar effect on me, but the effect is much reduced when I work there. All I tend to see, in that case, is work that needs to be done.
I was starting to write a comment, but figured out I had so many things to say that I would prefer to make it a separate post. Would you mind if I did?
It's a second-hand bookshop / cafe. It is heaven. It has tables and seating in between shelves - which, yes, it can make browsing a bit more challenging, but it is also great to see when whole families just turn up for a quick lunch while introducing their kids to the magic of book(shops).
I usually browse brick and mortar without list in hand. The dangerous one for me is Joseph Fox here in Philly. I don't think I have spent less than 50 dollars there.
There aren't a whole lot of bookstores to browse where I live--one or two independents, a Barnes and Noble, and three Book-a-holic used book stores. But I still love touching, smelling, and just generally looking. But there are eight branches of our city public library, so I spend more time browsing the library than book stores.
One of my dream vacations is to visit a whole bunch of book stores in different cities and different states around the U.S. I once saw an article that detailed some really interesting looking book stores that I decided I must visit as part of my bucket list vacations.
That sounds super awesome! I made a similar declaration to my best friend once--that I would take a week off one of these days and look for all the bookstores and libraries within a couple hours distance travel.
8 years ago
There are not a lot of independent bookstores around here anymore either. But I do enjoy my local Barnes and Noble.
It sounds like you had a great time!
We have a B&N but I never find anything interesting there. I like poking through stacks and finding gems and that never seems to happen at B&N - probably because everything I see is new, the selection is pitiful and I've usually already seen it on Netgalley/Goodreads.
That's so sad. My local UBS was forced to move after 20 or so years because they raised the rent so much that it was impossible for her to stay afloat. I don't know how those little stores are able to make any money but I'm glad mine is still around. When I joined paperbackswap I pretty much stopped visiting all bookstores and never realized how much I missed the hunt of finding a gem amidst stacks and stacks of books.
As for audios, it took me a long time to train my brain to sit still and listen while I was doing other things. Sometimes I still find myself drifting and have to go back a few chapters but it's become easier with years of practice.
Our local independent, which I do recommend, is M. Judson on Main St. here in Greenville, S.C. I also recommend the excellent new/used bookstore Fiction Addiction.
I have this small used book store that I go to. Not too many times a year as I leave with a haul and that costs a penny or two. LOL I love the smell and feel of physical books. And the sound of the pages as I turn them! Fun post:)
I miss doing this so much. I used to go to the B&N (we didn't have any independents) closest to my home town; it was about an hour by car, so I'd make an afternoon of it and just spend hours in the store, looking at everything, pulling books down, reading a couple of pages, adding to my pile or putting them back. Our store was a big one and pretty quiet so nobody every hassled you, and you never had to worry about being in anyone's way if you plopped down on the floor to explore the shelves at the bottom. :)
Here, I've yet to find any bookstore that gives me this same feeling of serenity and choice. We have a couple of excellent UBS, but they're stacked floor to ceiling with narrow aisles, so the selection is great but it's not a comfortable environment. The new book shops... meh. I was just in my local yesterday, picking up some books for MT, and while it's ok, it's lacking a lot. They sell a lot of music too, so the centre of the shop is filled with music racks and the spaces left for books is not expansive enough for a great selection of any subject. Their mystery section is only two bookcases worth (even though it's the most popularly read genre here) and they have no urban fantasy at all. The industry as a whole here, too, is very isolationist, so while they do carry the huge names, they're all more interested in shoving Aussie authors down everybody's throats (sorry, it gets on my nerves).
I have found a couple of excellent shops in Sydney and up in Queensland, but so far, nothing that comes close to making my heart go "ahhh" here in Melbourne.
And I always go book shopping without a list, but that's likely because of the above, and I buy my list online. So my visits to bookshops are always about discovering the books I needed but didn't know existed. :)
As for visitor's giving my books the side-eye... they probably do and I just don't acknowledge it. When they make comments to me about my books I always grin, because I love my books and they make me happy. My responses might also come out sounding condescending, who knows? But to me books equal knowledge - so why should I ever feel guilty or indulgent or greedy about being surrounded by the very things that make me a better, wiser person? I mean, I need only compare my book budget with any visitor's beer/wine/shoe/sports budget to shut them up pretty quick. ;-)
No apologies needed. I loved your reply. It made me realize how fortunate I am to have so many choices. I'm 5 minutes from the UBS and 20 from the independent as well as two B&N's. I always complain that I'd like to move but i do love being so close to all the best stores.
That's true about others vices. Books are mine. I own four pairs of shoes and one purse. Some people I know have shoes that match every outfit. That boggles my mind. I'd rather spend the cash on books!
Love the doggy-peacock! I also live super close to a couple of awesome indie book stores, one new books, etc. and one used paperbacks (they have a resident tabby cat). Unfortunately I haven't been to either in a long time because of health issues. Audiobooks and ebooks are now my go to reading formats as they're less painful then holding physical books; I'm so grateful for my iPod and Kindle!
Plus, they're my weekly comic supplier. The one nearby that I feel comfortable going to, so it's my favorite book place to go when I'm stressed.
Libraries can have a similar effect on me, but the effect is much reduced when I work there. All I tend to see, in that case, is work that needs to be done.
lol, I can see how working in a library would remove all of the joy in just soaking in the books.
Also, my favourite spot to buy books is this:
http://www.booksandbeans.co.uk/about-us
It's a second-hand bookshop / cafe. It is heaven. It has tables and seating in between shelves - which, yes, it can make browsing a bit more challenging, but it is also great to see when whole families just turn up for a quick lunch while introducing their kids to the magic of book(shops).
One of my dream vacations is to visit a whole bunch of book stores in different cities and different states around the U.S. I once saw an article that detailed some really interesting looking book stores that I decided I must visit as part of my bucket list vacations.
It sounds like you had a great time!
We sure had fun poking around!
As for audios, it took me a long time to train my brain to sit still and listen while I was doing other things. Sometimes I still find myself drifting and have to go back a few chapters but it's become easier with years of practice.
We have some very long-time used bookstores still going, like Fiction Addiction and the Carolina Bookrack, too, which is good. And the ubiquitous B&N.
Here, I've yet to find any bookstore that gives me this same feeling of serenity and choice. We have a couple of excellent UBS, but they're stacked floor to ceiling with narrow aisles, so the selection is great but it's not a comfortable environment. The new book shops... meh. I was just in my local yesterday, picking up some books for MT, and while it's ok, it's lacking a lot. They sell a lot of music too, so the centre of the shop is filled with music racks and the spaces left for books is not expansive enough for a great selection of any subject. Their mystery section is only two bookcases worth (even though it's the most popularly read genre here) and they have no urban fantasy at all. The industry as a whole here, too, is very isolationist, so while they do carry the huge names, they're all more interested in shoving Aussie authors down everybody's throats (sorry, it gets on my nerves).
I have found a couple of excellent shops in Sydney and up in Queensland, but so far, nothing that comes close to making my heart go "ahhh" here in Melbourne.
And I always go book shopping without a list, but that's likely because of the above, and I buy my list online. So my visits to bookshops are always about discovering the books I needed but didn't know existed. :)
As for visitor's giving my books the side-eye... they probably do and I just don't acknowledge it. When they make comments to me about my books I always grin, because I love my books and they make me happy. My responses might also come out sounding condescending, who knows? But to me books equal knowledge - so why should I ever feel guilty or indulgent or greedy about being surrounded by the very things that make me a better, wiser person? I mean, I need only compare my book budget with any visitor's beer/wine/shoe/sports budget to shut them up pretty quick. ;-)
That's true about others vices. Books are mine. I own four pairs of shoes and one purse. Some people I know have shoes that match every outfit. That boggles my mind. I'd rather spend the cash on books!