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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Dec 18, 2013 21:43:11 GMT -5
I just went to a huge mall in my area (three floors!) and there was not a single bookstore there. Not just that, but not even the anchor stores had any good book sections. I was planning to buy a wrestling book or two as I was really looking for some light reading, but the closest thing there was to a bookstore was Newbury Comics. Despite the name this Newbury Comics hid their comics in a little section of the store on the second floor, the top floor being mostly taken up by clothing (as if their weren't enough clothing stores!). Luckily the store also had ONE shelf of non-comic books and not surprisingly there were no wrestling books at all. Well, actually in addition to that ONE shelf they also had a few other books lying around here and there, but they were mostly silly picture books like People of Walmart and things of that sort.
Luckily there were some quality books on the ONE shelf in Newbury Comics and I ended up buying Basketball Diaries for $7. Not exactly what I was looking for considering I was aiming for light reading. Oh well, at least maybe the scene where the narrator gets blown for drug money could be darkly comical.
Of course, I could always go online (which I'll now do), but I was going to the mall anyway since I needed a new jacket and some gloves and was really hoping I could pick up a wrestling book or two. I mean I didn't even go into it with a picky mindset. Towards the end I was even thinking I would have settled for Chyna's book.
Oh well, I guess like video stores, bookstores are just going to die off. Like I said there is always online, but doesn't anyone else miss the days of lounging at the bookstore? Eating snacks you bought elsewhere and flipping through books you're never going to buy for hours while the employees give you the stink eye. Wait...I'm the reason they're dying off aren't I?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 21:43:44 GMT -5
book.... store? What is this book store of which you speak?
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Dec 18, 2013 21:45:32 GMT -5
book.... store? What is this book store of which you speak? Kind of like the post office, but the envelopes have pages between them and you don't want to kill yourself when stepping inside.
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Post by Instant Classic on Dec 18, 2013 21:46:33 GMT -5
People and their kindles.
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Glitch
King Koopa
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Watching you.
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Post by Glitch on Dec 18, 2013 21:46:53 GMT -5
I miss going through all those weird mags that weren't usually available at a super market's magazine section.
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Post by Apricots And A Pear Tree on Dec 18, 2013 21:46:59 GMT -5
What's a book?
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Dec 18, 2013 21:50:23 GMT -5
Yes I am. But at the same time I do like looking for books without having to walk over some f***ing teenager sprawled out on the floor reading or an old fat man sleeping in a chair. Guess what, there is a good Library just down the road if you want to just read.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 21:50:37 GMT -5
book.... store? What is this book store of which you speak? Kind of like the post office, but the envelopes have pages between them and you don't want to kill yourself when stepping inside. hah! I dunno, the whole bookstore model is like the record shop model. Its only a niche thing now. With amazon, Kindle, nook app, whatever, etc, the idea of actually going into a physical store to purchase a book is - at best - quaint. Nostalgia on par with video rental shops. I'm not really bummed to see them go. While they did provide some fun jobs for people, it was part of a closed model for writers that digital really opens up.
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Post by Amazing Kitsune on Dec 18, 2013 21:53:28 GMT -5
I've never liked bookstores. Used bookstores are where it's at. They've always been superior. They're also not going anywhere. In fact, I've noticed more and more springing up in recent years.
Books at bookstores are generally grossly overpriced
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Dec 18, 2013 21:54:19 GMT -5
My memories of Waldenbooks being the first store I'd hit as a kid (usually for the newest Animorphs or X-Men/Sonic issue) when I went out to Northwest Plaza say yes.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 18, 2013 21:59:14 GMT -5
I'm sorry if it makes me part of the problem but I cannot talk up www.openlibrary.org enough. So many books, for free.
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Post by Mesousa287793 on Dec 18, 2013 22:00:28 GMT -5
God, I miss Borders...when the last store closed in Plaza Las Americas, after the last time I went there, I felt bummed all the way to home that day.
What's worse is that it was pretty much the only place to read manga and a lot of people usually swarm in to read them. It was a cool sight.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Dec 18, 2013 22:10:05 GMT -5
I've never liked bookstores. Used bookstores are where it's at. They've always been superior. They're also not going anywhere. In fact, I've noticed more and more springing up in recent years. Books at bookstores are generally grossly overpriced Agreed about the overpriced thing (hence why I felt the need to mention the $7 price tag, which is was way cheaper than a lot of other stuff they had). However, I think even the used bookstores I don't think used bookstores are impervious to this ice age for bookstores. Unless you live in a really metropolitan area. For instance, the used bookstores in Harvard Square near where I live aren't going anywhere quick. But that's more just because they've been there for ages to the point where any business that had been established in that spot would be tough to kill. Case in point when I lived in New York in 2010 and 2011 they have a Blockbuster in Manhattan that had plenty of customers.
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Brood Lone Wolf Funker
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Got fined anyway. Possibly a Moose
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Post by Brood Lone Wolf Funker on Dec 18, 2013 22:13:32 GMT -5
The Barnes and Noble by me has become a hang out for the elderly and the manga crowds. I get some movies from there and some books but most of the time I just use the Wi-fi at Starbucks there
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Post by wildojinx on Dec 18, 2013 22:15:35 GMT -5
Hopefully libraries wont die out too (how else can you read current bestsellers for free?)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 22:19:11 GMT -5
Honestly, yes. Same with video stores. I really miss the atmosphere of actually going to stores and looking around.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 22:23:30 GMT -5
The Barnes and Noble by me has become a hang out for the elderly and the manga crowds. I get some movies from there and some books but most of the time I just use the Wi-fi at Starbucks there My area's local Barnes & Noble stores are all surviving. They've done so by appealing to multiple niche groups at once (the aforementioned elderly and manga groups, as well as children, and so forth) and don't seem to be doing badly at all. I think the biggest problem affecting bookstores is their lack of scholarly research material. Those are the only books I spend hardly any time with anymore, and the only books most university students and scholars are going to be touching. And bookstores--small ones, in particular--don't carry that stuff. If they offered those in rental format, similar to libraries (the public variants don't have much scholarly stuff either) that could possibly bring in some money.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 18, 2013 22:27:04 GMT -5
The Barnes and Noble by me has become a hang out for the elderly and the manga crowds. I get some movies from there and some books but most of the time I just use the Wi-fi at Starbucks there My area's local Barnes & Noble stores are all surviving. They've done so by appealing to multiple niche groups at once (the aforementioned elderly and manga groups, as well as children, and so forth) and don't seem to be doing badly at all. I think the biggest problem affecting bookstores is their lack of scholarly research material. Those are the only books I spend hardly any time with anymore, and the only books most university students and scholars are going to be touching. And bookstores--small ones, in particular--don't carry that stuff. If they offered those in rental format, similar to libraries (the public variants don't have much scholarly stuff either) that could possibly bring in some money. Now there's a sore spot for me. One of the things I like to do if I have to pass time in Ann Arbor is go to the Graduate library and look through the different film books in the stacks, namely their collection of journals like Film Comment and Films in Review. This past Summer I went there only to find that all of the older volumes of these were taken off the shelves and only available on microfilm. SO LAME! I'm happy it wasn't like that when I was there as a student. It was so cool to be able to just pull a book off the shelf.
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Spider2024
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Post by Spider2024 on Dec 18, 2013 22:29:10 GMT -5
I just went to a huge mall in my area (three floors!) and there was not a single bookstore there. Not just that, but not even the anchor stores had any good book sections. I was planning to buy a wrestling book or two as I was really looking for some light reading, but the closest thing there was to a bookstore was Newbury Comics. Despite the name this Newbury Comics hid their comics in a little section of the store on the second floor, the top floor being mostly taken up by clothing (as if their weren't enough clothing stores!). Luckily the store also had ONE shelf of non-comic books and not surprisingly there were no wrestling books at all. Well, actually in addition to that ONE shelf they also had a few other books lying around here and there, but they were mostly silly picture books like People of Walmart and things of that sort. Luckily there were some quality books on the ONE shelf in Newbury Comics and I ended up buying Basketball Diaries for $7. Not exactly what I was looking for considering I was aiming for light reading. Oh well, at least maybe the scene where the narrator gets blown for drug money could be darkly comical. Of course, I could always go online (which I'll now do), but I was going to the mall anyway since I needed a new jacket and some gloves and was really hoping I could pick up a wrestling book or two. I mean I didn't even go into it with a picky mindset. Towards the end I was even thinking I would have settled for Chyna's book. Oh well, I guess like video stores, bookstores are just going to die off. Like I said there is always online, but doesn't anyone else miss the days of lounging at the bookstore? Eating snacks you bought elsewhere and flipping through books you're never going to buy for hours while the employees give you the stink eye. Wait...I'm the reason they're dying off aren't I? Out of curiosity, which mall was this? (I'm from the Boston area too, that's why I'm curious.) Incidentally, I went to the Burlington Mall the other week, and we were bummed that there was no place in the mall to buy music. Luckily there was a Newbury Comics down the road. There was also (to bring this back to the original subject) a Barnes & Noble. Bookstores are fun to spend time and browse in. There really is something for everyone in a good bookstore.
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Post by Cyno on Dec 18, 2013 22:31:31 GMT -5
I love the experience of just going to a bookstore and hanging out and browsing. It's like a better stocked library.
Though at least I still have a Barnes and Noble nearby.
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