Are used bookstores saving the universe?

[RandomAnthony]

http://classicsbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Chat!

[Sarah]

Yay for used book stores!

[janine]

I love used book stores.

[RandomAnthony]

Chicago, along Clark, used to have a string of good used bookstores...Apadistra (sp?) was the best. That's gone, sadly, as are the Barnes and Noble and Borders that drove the used bookstores, presumably, out of business. The small Powell's satellite on Lincoln is still good, though. Around here we have a decent Half-Priced Books but I have to drive west, through a ton of lights, to get there so I don't go often.

[Sarah]

I like the other Powell's in Chicago too. That's a proper used book store.

[~Geektastic~]

I don't know about the universe, but our tiny local used bookstore keeps us going, that's for sure. With Borders closing and our library's hours shortened, BJ's Books is the one place I (and the community) can count on. They may not have everything I'm looking for, but I've never left empty handed. Plus the staff is fantastic; there's always good conversation to be had.

[Mary JL]

Sometimes looking for a certain book at a used bookstore does not suceed. They do not have everything.

But if you just want to find books, they are great! A used bokkstore owner and friend of mine said to me: "Why aren't there more browers like you?"

He said people open the door and walk in. They ask ' Do you have a copy of _____________' If he says no, they turn and walk out. I go in and browse to see hwat they DO have. Maybe the one particular book I came in for is not there---but I often find some unexpected new author I feel like trying. Or a copy of an old favorite, read years ago, and forgotten.

I almost always find a few books in any used bookstore; and I have spen countless hours browsing and talking.

YAY for used bookstores!

[Sarah]

And used bookstores have that thing that we talked about over in the music threads a while back: the thrill of the hunt. Amazon takes all the fun out of book buying.

[~Geektastic~]

Sarah Pi wrote: "And used bookstores have that thing that we talked about over in the music threads a while back: the thrill of the hunt. Amazon takes all the fun out of book buying."

That thrill is one of the reasons I shop almost exclusively at thrift stores for clothes as well as books. It is so much more rewarding to find something special in those places than on a rack or shelf that has 15 copies of the same thing on it.

[janine]

BunWat wrote: "I'm pretty allergic to mold so there's a limit to how long I can spend in a used bookstore if its at all musty. Not much fun browsing for books with a pounding headache. Thus the walk in, ask, wa..."

That sucks! You are forgiven.

[~Geektastic~]

BunWat wrote: "I'm pretty allergic to mold so there's a limit to how long I can spend in a used bookstore if its at all musty. Not much fun browsing for books with a pounding headache. Thus the walk in, ask, wa..."

Ours isn't musty at all, thankfully. My only complaint is that over 50% of the store is taken up by cheap paperback romances.

[Cynthia]

Our used bookstore, Firehouse Books, is great. Once in the pre-Amazon days, one of their employees spent about an hour e-mailing other used bookstores and ordering me a half-dozen books by one of my favorite authors. It was really terrific customer service.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Sarah Pi wrote: "I like the other Powell's in Chicago too. That's a proper used book store."

Are you referring to the southside one? There are only two left now; the one in the south Loop was closed about a year ago because south Loop rents were rising at a pace they decided they didn't want to keep up with. Disappointing...it was a good store. Big.

[RandomAnthony]

I'm talking about the one on Lincoln, just north of Diversey, LG.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I knew you were, RA. Thanks.

Here's a post about it.

http://urbnexplorer.com/2010/10/05/pr...

Which mentions Myopic Books, which I had forgotten about. Haven't been in that one in donkey's years.

[Jonathan]

Are donkeys known for their long years or long ears?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Both.

Me, I'm attempting to incorporate more phrases from British and Swedish detective fiction into my speech.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

"I'll have my man bring the car round and we'll pop over to the Somalian refugee camp in Malmö. I say, Bunter, it's no end of a bore, but we've got to check it out. The Mahometans are rioting."

[Jonathan]

You might work in some references to lutefisk and aquavit to shore up the sense of Scandinavian atmosphere.

[Phil]

Lobstergirl wrote: ""I'll have my man bring the car round and we'll pop over to the Somalian refugee camp in Malmö. I say, Bunter, it's no end of a bore, but we've got to check it out. The Mahometans are rioting.""

That sounds like it's straight from the Henning Mankell book I read a couple of weeks ago.

[Phil]

Are used book stores saving the universe?

No, that's Zaphod Beeblebrox's job.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

It's half Sayers, half Mankell. Was the refugee camp from Faceless Killers?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Jonathan wrote: "You might work in some references to lutefisk and aquavit to shore up the sense of Scandinavian atmosphere."

In modern Swedish detective fiction they only eat sandwiches and coffee.

[Phil]

Yes. I bought it at the Powell's in the Portland airport.

[Phil]

I'm not sure if I'm interested in more Wallander books. It didn't suck, but it didn't make me want to rush out for the next one, either.

That was his first book, wasn't it? Perhaps they get more lively in the future.

[Jonathan]

Lobstergirl wrote: "In modern Swedish detective fiction they only eat sandwiches and coffee."

Sounds like my diet. Maybe I should become a modern Swedish detective.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Yes, that's the first one. I liked Faceless Killers. If you don't like Wallander the man, you're not going to like any of the Wallander books. I love Wallander so I'll read all of them, but that doesn't mean all of them are good. Some are 2-star, some are 4-star. If you want a violent non-Wallander, you might read The Return of the Dancing Master.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Jonathan wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "In modern Swedish detective fiction they only eat sandwiches and coffee."

Sounds like my diet. Maybe I should become a modern Swedish detective."

You'll need to put on at least 20 pounds and get diabetes.

[Jonathan]

I've been trying to slim down, so maybe I'll pass on the detective gig.

[Phil]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Yes, that's the first one. I liked Faceless Killers. If you don't like Wallander the man, you're not going to like any of the Wallander books. I love Wallander so I'll read all of them, but that..."

I think what really threw me was the timeline. For most of the book we were "in the moment" and following day-by-day activity. Towards the end we're suddenly witnessing huge gaps in time, during which the character made several major life changes. Say wuh?

Is that common to the genre? I ask because the book I read immediately after "Faceless Killers" was The Whole Truth by David Baldacci, and it did somewhat the same. The difference was that Baldacci's Shaw was nowhere near as human as Mankell's Wallander.

I think if he gets the pacing down in future stories then they may be worth a read. I fly a lot and use this kind of book to help kill time.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I don't remember that pacing aspect of the book, I guess. He's a man who always seems to be in the middle of one or two personal crises, whether it's his marriage, or his daughter, or his health, his depressive nature. That stays the same from book to book. And then there are one or two professional crises.

[Angela~twistedmind~]

Finally!! After years and years we have a used bookstore in my little town. The best thing about it is that you can bring in your own unwanted books and receive credit which allows you to take half off the marked price. And the thrill of the hunt is the very reason I love used bookstores. I don't even go in unless I have a couple of hours to get lost in the stacks. I just love me some used bookstores. Fleamarkets, too. Sometimes they have a ton of selections.

[Louise]

We don't have a lot of used bookstores where I live, but fleamarkets in the Summer and general thrift shops we do have. I love the hunt, and I tell my mum, my husband etc. when I find a really great bargain!
Like the other day I got a pair of barely used Diesel shorts for my son AND two nice books for around 2 dollars!

[Jammies]

There's only one used bookstore left in the Akron area, and it's a complete mess. There are towering stacks of unpacked books everywhere, some of them probably a decade and a half old, mold or mildew or something in the back room, and dust everywhere. I'd go more often if it didn't make me want to slap the owner for taking such lousy care of books.

[Cynthia]

We used to have a Hastings store in town. I loved to bring them my used books and movies and CDs. Loved having all that store credit to spend. They closed a couple years ago. Booo.

[Sarah]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "I like the other Powell's in Chicago too. That's a proper used book store."

Are you referring to the southside one? There are only two left now; the one in the south Loop was cl..."

The one across the street from a Greek diner. East 57th Street.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Oh yes, that's a good one.

[Karen K.]

Angela wrote: "Finally!! After years and years we have a used bookstore in my little town. The best thing about it is that you can bring in your own unwanted books and receive credit which allows you to take half..."

That's exactly the same thing that the used book store I go to does! Where is your bookstore? Mine is in Westport Massachusetts and is called "Book Lovers."

[Sarah]

The Maryland Daily Record posted a poll this weekend asking where you get your summer reading.
The choices were chain bookstore, public library, eReader, or "I only read gossip magazines on vacation."
I wrote a grumpy letter reminding them that if they are aware of chain bookstores surely they must be aware of non-chain bookstores as well. Baltimore still has a decent number of them and they don't deserve to be left off.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

They also left out drugstore, Costco, and an alley near my house.

[Sarah]

You buy books in the alley? Or you find them there? Black market books?

[Cynthia]

How do they cut down on mildew in the alley books, LG?

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Hee. People leave books out in my neighborhood in order to get rid of them. (Along with dishes, knick knacks, rotting furniture and other clutter.) Once I was walking past an alley and I saw a few big stacks of books - I got me some Gertrude Stein and a couple others. Alley browsing depends on good weather, of course...

[Cynthia]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Hee. People leave books out in my neighborhood in order to get rid of them. (Along with dishes, knick knacks, rotting furniture and other clutter.) Once I was walking past an alley and I saw a fe..."

Sounds like Minneapolis. Hubby and I used to have big fun there on trash days. Good old fashioned dumpster diving!