Brick & Mortar Bookstores In A Virtual World
It only takes a second to get to Amazon or Borders’ or Powell’s site and put in my order for my favorite author’s soon to be released book. I can’t wait to get my hands on it, read it cover-to-cover while the summer rains drive me indoors for a cup of tea, or, dare I dream, out under the patio umbrella while I recline on the lounger during a sun break. I can have it delivered right to my front door, or maybe I should get it as an e-book. On second thought, maybe I’ll wait. Oh, I know this author is anxiously checking to see how the presales are going, and I’d really like to help her out by pushing that number, but I just don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.
So here’s the dilemma - I love bookstores. I love the smell of all the books, the low hum of conversation and, in some, the wafting scents of coffee and baked goods coming from the café in the corner. And, I like the booksellers, the ones who always seem to have time to help you find a title, or look up the release date of the next offering by a particular author, or engage in discussion about favorites you have in common. Did I say like? Make that love.
I also love making connections with other readers, the passionate, the questing, and the novice readers. Old, young, in-between, all there to learn, or escape, or fall in love, or travel to places near and far or out into space. So many people devouring the words others have written, drinking in the essence of each author’s need to put word to paper.
It is the brick and mortar bookstore that I escape to when need a break. It is where I meet a friend while we decide where to go for lunch. It’s where I shop for the perfect gift for my sister, father, daughter, husband, mother, friend.
Convenience -vs- community, expedience -vs- experience. For those of us who live within driving distance of a bookstore, large or small, it is perhaps not a difficult choice after all. Faced with the very real possibility that yet more bookstores will be closing I intend to savor them while I can. I can’t save them singlehandedly, though my husband is certain I am doing just that, so I urge you to consider spending your book budget in person. And please, remember to savor the moment.
Now, I’m off to make the pilgrimage. :)
Laurel N
So here’s the dilemma - I love bookstores. I love the smell of all the books, the low hum of conversation and, in some, the wafting scents of coffee and baked goods coming from the café in the corner. And, I like the booksellers, the ones who always seem to have time to help you find a title, or look up the release date of the next offering by a particular author, or engage in discussion about favorites you have in common. Did I say like? Make that love.
I also love making connections with other readers, the passionate, the questing, and the novice readers. Old, young, in-between, all there to learn, or escape, or fall in love, or travel to places near and far or out into space. So many people devouring the words others have written, drinking in the essence of each author’s need to put word to paper.
It is the brick and mortar bookstore that I escape to when need a break. It is where I meet a friend while we decide where to go for lunch. It’s where I shop for the perfect gift for my sister, father, daughter, husband, mother, friend.
Convenience -vs- community, expedience -vs- experience. For those of us who live within driving distance of a bookstore, large or small, it is perhaps not a difficult choice after all. Faced with the very real possibility that yet more bookstores will be closing I intend to savor them while I can. I can’t save them singlehandedly, though my husband is certain I am doing just that, so I urge you to consider spending your book budget in person. And please, remember to savor the moment.
Now, I’m off to make the pilgrimage. :)
Laurel N