Challenge to support bookstores

[Werner]

Back in 2011, a lady on Goodreads, who was concerned about the need to support physical bookstores in order to keep them open and preserve all the benefits they provide, challenged the rest of us to buy at least two books (new ones, not used) per year from a brick-and-mortar store. I've met that challenge every year from 2011 on, and I've met it for 2016, having already bought two books so far (as presents for my wife). Maybe some others would be interested in taking up this challenge as well?

[Werner]

Here's an interesting and encouraging article on independent bookstores, from a blog called the Passive Voice, which one of my Goodreads friends regularly reads: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2016/0... .

[Werner]

This past Monday, I was saddened to learn that the local bookstore, Hearthside Books, will be closing its doors for good on Feb. 18. :-( I've shopped there since at least 2004 (they were the only bookstore I could find, besides Bluefield College's, that was willing to carry my book!). According to the newspaper article, they just didn't have enough business to sustain the store, so it's a graphic reminder of how important it is to support bookstores while we have them. (Now, I'll have to go further afield to find one to support.)

[Rosemarie]

That is sad, Werner. The fewer the indie book stores, the smaller variety of books.

[Werner]

Rosemarie wrote: "That is sad, Werner. The fewer the indie book stores, the smaller variety of books."

That's very true, Rosemarie! :-(

[Werner]

The closing of our local home-owned bookstore earlier this year made it harder for me to fulfill my goal of supporting a brick-and-mortar store this time around. But there's a chain bookstore in the Mercer Mall (located out in the country, between Bluefield WV and Princeton, the county seat), and this weekend, I finally got out there for some shopping. I fulfilled my two-book purchase commitment (for myself, this time!), and was pleased to see that the store was pretty busy with shoppers.

[Rosemarie]

Today I made a totally unplanned purchase in a discount/used book store. I was going to look for a book for my daughter's Christmas present, but didn't find it. I did end up buying two books for myself, at excellent prices.

[Werner]

Congratulations on your bargains, Rosemarie! Hope you find that book you're wanting to get for your daughter.

[Rosemarie]

If I don't find it now, I should find it in time for her birthday in June.

[Werner]

Sounds good, Rosemarie. Books make great gifts at any time of the year!

[Werner]

My bookstore-supporting challenge really had to wait until nearly the last minute this year; but I fulfilled it this morning, again at the bookstore in the mall. I was glad to see that once again, they were doing a brisk business!

[Werner]

Once again, I've recently met the challenge to support brick-and-mortar bookstores by buying at least two brand-new books a year in one! This year, I didn't leave it until the last days of December. :-)

[Werner]

I'm glad to say that I've once again fulfilled the challenge to buy at least two books a year from a physical bookstore! Though this year, as we've come down to the last week of December, it was, as some British Goodreaders might say, a bit of a close-run thing. :-)

[Vickie]

I always support physical bookstores. Yes, I admit that it's nice and convenient ordering from home (which I will do as well), but there's just something therapeutic to me about browsing in a physical store.🥰

[Werner]

Vickie wrote: "I always support physical bookstores. Yes, I admit that it's nice and convenient ordering from home (which I will do as well), but there's just something therapeutic to me about browsing in a physi..."

i hear you, Vickie!

[Werner]

Since I've accumulated so many piles of unread physical books by now, which are greatly backlogged, and I'm running short on space to put books, I decided not to buy books for myself to fulfill the challenge this year. So instead, I bought two books to donate to the Bluefield University library, where I work. (Barb and I also bought several books as Christmas gifts for family members; so the clerks at our local bookstore were probably pretty glad to see us coming. :-) )

[Gia]

That's fantastic, Werner! I can relate. It's never been a challenge for me to support bookstores, lol! It's my favorite way to shop and I can spend hours in there. Physical bookstores are my first and favorite place to go when I'm looking for books. If they don't have a book I'm looking for they order it for me. When I discover a book on my shelf I no longer want/need I sell it back to the used bookstore (and buy something else there with the money I made, lol!) Every year for as long as I can remember I've asked for a gift certificate to my favorite used bookstore at Christmastime. My family loves this because it takes the stress out of gift-buying for me, the bookstore is supported, I can shop there all year, and everyone is happy!

[Werner]

I hear you, Gia!

[Vickie]

Right there with ya, Gia!😁

[Werner]

In most years, I wind up waiting until very late in the year (and sometimes after Christmas!) to complete this challenge. This year, though, I've been much more on the ball; I picked up two books for myself at the bookstore in our local mall over the weekend. So, I've fulfilled the challenge for another year; and I hope others in the group will be able to join me before the year is out!

[Vickie]

Oh, yes Werner, no worries there for me, lol. I definitely stop by several times a year. 😊

[Werner]

Glad to hear that, Vickie! :-)

[Werner]

Yesterday, while I was at our local mall, I visited the Books-a-Million (BAM) outlet, and bought myself two books. One is New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (to the Bible), which replaces an older edition I've owned for 40 years, that was literally fallen apart. The other is a story collection, American Midnight: Tales of the Dark. So I've fulfilled my challenge to support physical bookstores for another year!

[Vickie]

That's great, Werner! Yeah, I frequent my local BAM all the time, lol. I just can't help myself!😉

[Werner]

Vickie wrote: "That's great, Werner! Yeah, I frequent my local BAM all the time, lol. I just can't help myself!😉"

I hear ya, Reggia! The only reason I don't frequent the local one here is that it's so inaccessible; it's located in a mall on the other side of the state line, and miles out in the country.

[Werner]

It usually takes me until late December to complete my "support bookstores" challenge in any given year. But having won a $25.00 Barnes and Noble gift card earlier this month through the wellness program where I work, and being in Harrisonburg, Virginia (which is home to a large brick-and-mortar Barnes and Noble bookstore) last week, I took the opportunity to redeem it. With that deduction, it didn't cost me much to buy copies of the anthology Golden Age Detective Stories, and of Mycroft and Sherlock by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse.

[Vickie]

I frequented my local bookstore numerous times this year and gave them lots of business, lol. I'm going to need another bookshelf soon.🤦‍♀️🤪

I also had a little birthday weekend getaway with my husband a couple of weeks ago in Virginia, so of course I had to visit the small town's local bookstore and bought Stephen King's latest release of short stories.
You Like It Darker