I really am.
There are three bookstores in my area plus Volumes, which is a cafe/bookstore and a Borders down at Doncaster.
NOT ANYMORE.
Two of those bookstores closed down months ago, and the third is shutting down soon. Borders closed a while back and with it our A&R. Volumes is more a cafe than a bookstore--there's like one shelf of YA and the rest are cookbooks and knitting books.
Sure, there's a little replacement bookstore in the plaza to sell all the books that A&R hadn't sold before they got kicked out and every book is only five bucks (!!!) but that'll be gone soon.
All I'll have is Volumes. And to get there, I have to take like two buses. It's always been a last resort. I don't have that kind of time! It's totally out of the way and everything.
Not to mention all the ferals that hang out near there. It's right by the train station and a major bus station. All the school kids stop by there and they're always smoking. Yuck. There's nothing ranker than second-hand smoke. But because every other bookstore has disappeared, I have to.
So people aren't buying as many books anymore. And when I say books I mean the real kind, the ones with pages you flip and covers you can stroke all Gollum-like and whisper sweet nothings to. E-books are great yeah. They're easy to buy, easy to store, and the author gets the money from them. Just as good yeah?
No. No-freakin'-way.
Bookstores are dying, people. DYING. Bookstores are dropping like flies because a lot of us buy the e-books instead of going out and getting them.
Yes, there's a lot of people who don't read much, but they can't be blamed for not liking reading, the crazies. It's up to US, the people who like reading, love it, and want to be able to see books on our shelf in the future (and by that I don't mean the one on your iPad or Kindle), to pick up their slack. Cut down on e-books, buy ACTUAL BOOKS.
I just had to yell at someone about that.
I'm proud to say that I have two large shelves dedicated to my TBR pile. Now, there's also one on my kindle, but you're right. It just isn't the same . . .
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad. I wish there were more accessible book stores. Kindles and electronic books are nice, but there's nothing like feeling those pages in your fingers.
ReplyDeleteGood thing the library's still going strong where I live:)
Personally I hate ebooks/kindles/anything-but-the-real-tangible-non-electronic-deal. I love books, the ones that go on bookshelves :).
ReplyDeleteIf all the bookstores around you are closing (except for the one that's inconvenient), why not order from Amazon or a bookstore website? I know it's not the same as going through a bookstore and being able to flip through pages and whatnot, but at least then it would be conveniently delivered to your door. I sadly have no bookstores near me, at least none that I know of, so I end up ordering from Amazon or using the library or something along those lines.