
There’s no replacement for the thrill of browsing in a bookstore - r_singh
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/theres-no-replacement-for-the-thrill-of-browsing-in-a-bookstore/2020/06/25/20855c1a-abf1-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html
======
kieckerjan
As much as I hate to say this, but I hardly use physical bookstores anymore.
Most of them are just as commercial as their online counterparts but with
limited space. And the limited space they have they mostly spend on stacks of
the same shitty best-sellers with glowing reviews. The books I come for are
hardly ever at hand, so I will have to order them, which is what I would do in
an online bookstore anyway. Moreover, I am switching to ebooks more and more.
Less to drag around when I move house.

I will make a big exception for second-hand bookstores though. The character
of a second-hand shop is very hard to replicate online, as is the opportunity
for serendipity. Every online shop has a search function that beats the life
out of chance finds. In a second-hand shop you may happen upon a book that has
been sitting on a shelf for years (maybe even misplaced) waiting just for you.
I cannot resist that siren call.

I visited the US last year. In a charming little second-hand bookstore
(including a grumpy owner) in Flagstaff I chanced upon the collected works of
Carol Shields. I had never heard of her but she may well turn out to be a
literary love for life. Thank you, grumpy owner.

~~~
drfuchs
Best grumpy-used-book-store-owner experience ever: A friend and I went into an
exceedingly cramped used book store in SF years ago, each looking for a
particular title. Books were on shelves and also stacked in piles scattered
along the two narrow aisles. There were a few labeled "sections", but within a
section, everything was random. There was one other customer, my friend, and
me, all tripping over one-another, looking for our books.

Owner, from the front register, in a rather annoyed voice: "You know, you
should call ahead, so I can tell you if we have your title, and have it ready
for you when you come. We don't have room for customers to be rummaging
around." So, we accepted defeat, and as we went to leave, the store phone
rang, and the owner picked up. After a beat, and as I was stepping out the
door, I heard the owner grumpily responding to the caller: "How should I know?
I can't keep track of all the books here; you have to come in and look for it
yourself..."

~~~
8bitsrule
Similar story, different outcome: long ago I went into a used bookstore housed
in an old firestation (now a theatre). It had many books shelved on its first
floor, but the second floor was an acre of heaps.

Its owner was a grey-haired and bearded, gruffish old-school book dealer. I
was looking for an obscure French novel which was (I did not know) unlikely to
be found anywhere, then or now.

After quickly trying my luck and utterly failing, I asked about it by author
and title. Melvin looked down, shuffled a bit, then said he'd have a look.
Upstairs around the firepole he trudged. Five minutes of bumping, ten minutes
of shuffling, and down the stairs he came holding it. "It's a little dusty,"
he offered.

I'd pay a sizeable sum to be able to relive that moment.

~~~
wazoox
I had the same experience about 30 years ago. A very old man (more than 80)
had a used book store with 5 meters high shelves and stacks and piles and
heaps everywhere. I came in and asked "do you have the works of Antiphon, by
any chance? The bilingual version?" "He think for a moment, "ah, do you mean
the 1923 translation? I must have it somewhere up there..." And he went up a
ladder, rummaged on some shelves, and came back with the old, uncut book, in
the battered original edition.

I've bought many, many books there for a while, particularly the rare (and
expensive when new) "Guillaume Budé" books in their original, paper-cover,
uncut editions ([https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-
budes](https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-budes)). Some very sad day, the
guy died and the magic store closed forever.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
My favourite dusty bookstore story is the "$15 shipping" on this.

[https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3019027757...](https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30190277578)

------
qntmfred
I suggest checking out your public library. Browsing books and then also being
able to take them home for free is even more of a thrill imo.

~~~
wenc
I love libraries but they don't usually have the latest books. I get my book
recommendations from Tyler Cowen's blog and most of the books featured there
take a while to show up in library collections or if ever at all. (I know I
can put in requests, but they take weeks and I'd have lost interest by that
time)

I get more of a thrill from bookstore displays because they give me a sense of
the current literary zeitgeist, especially if the owner is a reader and has
curated the display carefully. Bookstores have more of an incentive to push
new stuff.

~~~
CrazyStat
Only tangentially related, but my favorite place to browse during undergrad
was the sorting shelves at the university library (which were publicly
accessible, though not advertised). When books were returned they were sorted
there before being sent out to be reshelved across the library[1], so it was a
daily snapshot of what books the university community thought were worth
reading. I picked up a number of books there that I never would have seen
otherwise.

Unfortunately when I went to graduate school the sorting shelves were hidden
behind the circulation desk.

[1] Unless there was a hold on the book, in which case it would be kept at the
circulation desk--so the most popular books never made it to the sorting
shelves.

~~~
rmrfstar
The original "engagement" optimizing algorithm.

------
kashyapc
If you're lucky enough, like me, to live in a university town, don't miss out
on the faculty library of whatever subject area of your interest (science,
art, philosophy, you name it).

I'm currently neck-deep in a subject, and was searching for an expensive (80€)
reference book online, and serendipitously I came across a search result
pointing to my local university.

I immediately biked to the university (15-minute ride), paid a piddling amount
of 15€ (or 25€, I forget) as the membership fee for the faculty library, and
loaned that book and a couple of others. Pretty neat.

Since then, I discovered, 95% of _all_ the serious scholarly works that I want
to refer to are available at the university faculty library.

By _Jove_ do I struggle to express how delighted I am to have stumbled across
that online search result (here Google gets my gratitude!), which led to many
fruitful (non-null) pointers. I already spend substantial money on physical
books, so this discovery of faculty library has been an outstanding find.

~~~
dorchadas
I've tried this, but sadly the books I want are fairly specialized; my alma
mater had them, but the university library in my current town doesn't (their
search is also horrible, often redirecting to journals before books), and ILL
costs $25 per book, sadly. I wish I still lived up there, as they have _free_
check out for local alumni.

------
RosanaAnaDana
This is an issue facing much of online media content (imo). Take for example
music. I use youtube to find music, where-as I used to regularly spend money
at record stores. At this point youtube represents a far more varied buffet
for me to pick from.

HOWEVER, since selections and recommendations are algorithmically generated,
and clearly drive towards sponsored artists (and sometimes what appear to be
algorithmic black holes: looking at you Tycho), the variety of the
recommendations I get tends to get be pretty damn stale. It takes substantial
effort on my part to introduce variety into the system and when allowed to run
on its own, it always seems to regress towards a very static set of
recommendations.

I think the analog variant of this, a record store resolves this by at least
forcing you to walk past a bunch of music you might not have other wise
listened to. Same thing is true with the book store. You might not be into the
classics, but you'll walk past them everytime to get to sci-fi. Eventually you
might be like, eh, sure, lets try out some Dostoevsky.

I think a possible resolution to this is to stop treating recommendation
algorithms as a purely a product recommendation system or as some black box
secret sauce. Give people the ability to work with and manually adjust the
algorithms that are built to offer them products/ make recommendations. Allow
users to work in partnership with the algorithms to get a more varied (or less
varied) range of recommendations.

~~~
dredmorbius
Use search rather than recommendations.

CSS extensions (Stylus) and uBlock origin's element blocker can remove YT's
recommendations entirely. That (along with. nuking comments) is a tremendous
UX boost.

~~~
jointpdf
Search has a discovery problem, though—you have to know what you’re looking
for. Even if you know, it’s increasingly difficult to locate it via keyword
search. And isn’t Google/YouTube search a type of recommendation engine
anyways (i.e. results are conditional on your browsing history and other
factors)?

~~~
dredmorbius
True, though it varies somewhat by dommain. For, say, informational or
academic topics, search is at least fair. When researching a specific author
or authority, better. For music, not quite so much.

I don't have a YT account, have used it under Incognito for years (keeping
session histories minimal and fresh, and as of a few months ago, block all
cookies entirely.

This kills some search relevance, but is exceptionally good at avoiding _that
corner_ of youtube --- the zone of ever more finely curated crap.

YT's lack of channel-blocking (never, ever, on any circumstances show results
from $CHANNEL in search or recommendations, or of creating short-term
playlists based on search results, are increasingly crippling. On the latter,
mps-youtube has excellent search and list-curation features I use heavily.

------
PeterStuer
For decades browsing the bookstores on Saturday mornings was a bi-weekly treat
for me. These days, 95% of my books are bought online and for the Kindle.

Tech and science books aimed at the scientific literate but non-specialist
have all but disappeared. The physical quality of fiction books in terms of
print quality and binding are just garbage compared to 25 years ago.

It is a bit sad for a book lover. Our home is still filled with multiple
thousands of books, probably also several hundreds still unread as new books
were bought at a higher frequency than they could be read, so moving down the
strata of an ever accumulating 'to read' sediment.

With the instant availability and fulfillment of online eBook purchases, that
vice has disappeared together with it's joy.

~~~
nnadams
Do you have any existing books you would recommend from your "tech and science
books aimed at the scientific literate but non-specialist" category?

~~~
PeterStuer
So many. One I remember very fondly is "The beak of the Finch".
[https://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-
Time/dp/06...](https://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-
Time/dp/067973337X/)

~~~
rbobby
Years ago I bought this by mistake thinking it was a murder mystery. 50 pages
in and I was really confused... good writing but no sign of a mystery. Reread
the back cover more carefully and the penny dropped.

------
girzel
I was highly amused to discover recently that Pegasus Book Exchange here in
Seattle had gone to the trouble of photographing all their shelves, so you can
"browse" remotely. You still can't smell the books, but this might be the
closest you can get.

[http://www.pegasusbookexchange.com/p/browse-
shelves.html](http://www.pegasusbookexchange.com/p/browse-shelves.html)

~~~
blululu
This is cool, and a little bit bizarre. I feel like it would be a fun
experience to be able to view these photos in Three.js

~~~
gxqoz
I expected an old-fashioned "click part of the image and go to a different
link" where I could click on a book's spine and get linked to a page with more
details about it. Of course, this is a lot more work so I can see why they
didn't do this. But this was one of my favorite elements of '90s websites. You
have some big (for the time) image up top and you, say, click on one of the
characters in it to get to the guestbook.

------
redbeard0x0a
Similarly, grocery shopping isn't quite the same doing it through an app.
Thrill vs. getting new ideas by seeing what fruits and veggies that look good
and fresh, etc...

~~~
loriverkutya
Another point of view: through the app I buy less not needed stuff because
they are around the tills. Stop and resume the process anytime, also I don't
need to fight with my daughter over the 3rd bar of chocolate :)

------
snapetom
In my teens and early 20's, second-hand bookstores were a reliable go-to in
the dating bag of tricks for me. The smell, the cramped quarters, the
discussion - it was easier to give an air of sophistication and worldliness to
impress your date. It always opened up the other person to confess their likes
and dislikes, giving new ideas for future dates. Ah, fond memories from
another time.

------
overcast
Same reason a lot of miss Blockbuster nights from our youth. Now rather than
50000 channels of nothing, we scan through endless streaming options. My only
reprieve is that Netflix still offers their DVD service.

~~~
rsynnott
> My only reprieve is that Netflix still offers their DVD service.

Wait, seriously?

~~~
asciimov
Seriously! They tried spinning it off years ago, remember "Qwikster"?

Anyway, it's no where as good as is used to be. After the rise of streaming
they shut down many fulfillment centers and quit mailing out on Saturdays. My
quick 3 day turn around turned into 5-7 days. Eventually I canceled the
service once I figured out that Redbox could in fill in my new release rental
needs for less money (with coupons anyway).

------
gxqoz
Can't find the original Tweet to credit it, but a great bookstore joke: "I've
got the idea for the perfect escape room. You're in a bookstore. You have 60
minutes to escape while spending less than $50. Good luck!"

~~~
jimmaswell
Everything in them was way overpriced last time I checked ~7yrs ago, probably
due to low sales volume. I'm sure it's even worse now. No way I'm buying a
lump of dead trees for $30 when it's $7 for the ebook unless it's something
I'm really into having a collector's item for or something.

Maybe if browsing experiences are valuable, we can eventually start making
websites have showrooms in VR. Too bad there's no smell-o-vision for the paper
smell.

------
gexla
One of my first pick-ups as an adult in a bookstore was Gödel, Escher, Bach.
People thought I was crazy for grabbing it. One of my friends was fascinated
by it and I ended up giving it away. Hopefully he did good things with it!

~~~
giardini
gexia says> _" One of my first pick-ups as an adult in a bookstore was Gödel,
Escher, Bach... I ended up giving it away."_<

You did the right thing, provided you didn't throw away part of your life
reading that sludgepot of a book.

After reading GEB, I used it as a doorstop in a utility room. Probably still
there, lying in wait for some fool to pick it up and get sucked into
Hofstadter's voluminous prose. I would have burned it but burning GEB would
take too long to be worthwhile. When I think of burning it I think of one of
the old wood (and paper) -powered Volkswagens that the Germans used
domestically during WWII:

[https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-
cars.html](https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-cars.html)

search for "Mass-produced woodmobiles"

GEB might provide enough paper to drive out of Germany. Had the Germans made a
"bullshit-powered" automobile they could have launched themselves into orbit
with a single copy of GEB.

------
Wistar
I am certain that, in a good bookstore, and had I the finances and shelf
space, I could spend $10K in a short afternoon. Less certain is whether I'd
ever actually read them all but I'd darn well aspire to read them.

~~~
Xophmeister
Likewise. I'm highly guilty of tsundoku,[1] but I can just never find the time
to read everything I want :(

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku)

~~~
Wistar
Oh! Thank you for that term, tsundoku. It's perfect.

------
Aaronstotle
I found what I can confidently say is my favorite non-fiction book I've read
in a while from randomly walking into a book store. I was meandering through
the history section and found a book that went in great detail about Lawrence
of Arabia titled (Lawrence in Arabia).

Looking forward to the day that can happen again.

------
sleepybrett
I would say this is true of most retail experiences. It's easy enough to shop
for exactly the things that you know you want. It's much harder to do
discovery, to find alternatives or to creatively solve problems without 1)
seeing options spread in front of you in the way you only get in a physical
environment 2) having staff around you can ask. I'm thinking specifically in a
hardware store like scenario. I know I have such and such a problem in my
house but I'm not a contractor, but I am handy. Having someone right there
that I can describe my problem too and how I'm thinking of solving it and
having someone with some experience say "oh what you need is xyz, isle 4" is
invaluable. You don't get that on amazon.

------
makerofspoons
If you're concerned about the environment, browse at your local library. The
energy cost in printing and shipping books is shocking:
[https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/amazons-
kindl...](https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/amazons-
kindlephysical-book-bundle-great-impressing-guests-not-so-good-environment/)

------
Karunamon
There's a Barnes & Noble in my town that's still open and does pretty good
business considering it's the only one for hundreds of miles, and yeah, it's
fun to browse through.

I buy almost nothing from there, though, except for the occasional gift. It's
hard to come up with a good excuse to buy physical books for everyday reading
when e-ink exists for reasonable prices with none of the storage concerns.

------
bhaak
That's certainly true but how often do you really go to the bookstore in
search of this thrill?

The keyword here is "browsing". That's better done at a physical bookstore
than online.

But it's much more _efficient_ to buy books online. I often went to a
bookstore looking for some kind of book I couldn't find there but could have
ordered immediately online.

I like doing both, at different times though.

------
rawoke083600
Lol one things I liked to do is whenever I see secondhand bookstore/stalls...
is browse for "The Ninja - Eric van Lustbader" one of my favourite books as a
teenager... I usually find at least one of the books in this series. It
reminds me that everything is still in place and ticking along as planned in
this crazy world. It's just so consistently there !

------
lacker
Personally, I love reading books, but I find browsing in a bookstore to be a
bad way of finding books to read. Most of the information you get about books
is their promotional marketing copy, and looking at the cover. Maybe you get a
small amount of information that was written by a bookstore employee, for a
small subset of the books at the store. That just isn't very high-quality
information about the books. It isn't a great way to absorb information about
books.

Far better is reading things online that are written about books. Find someone
you respect who recommended a list of books, or find a list of award-winning
books. Go through that list, and read some other reviews of them. This is more
intellectually engaging and interesting than walking through a physical
bookstore.

Plus, when you find a book you're excited by, you can get it for your Kindle
and start reading it immediately, rather than waiting until later. This means
you can get a book that's a perfect fit for your mood when you're reading it.

~~~
greenie_beans
I disagree. Bookstores have people who curate the displays, which helps with
discovery. If you go to a reputable bookstore (not a big box like Barnes and
Noble), then you’ll probably discover something great. And regarding the
“cover doesn’t tell you everything” point...that’s a valid concern, though you
can always ask the booksellers about a book and a lot of times they’ll know
about it better than a google search or blog.

~~~
mindcrime
_Bookstores have people who curate the displays, which helps with discovery.
If you go to a reputable bookstore (not a big box like Barnes and Noble),_

Curious why you're excluding Barnes & Noble? In my experience, the B&N store
by me is largely staffed by people who are readers and writers themselves; and
they do curate displays and write recommendations, offer verbal
recommendations, etc. Maybe other stores are different, but given the B&N near
me, I find it to be equal to any of the local independent bookstores in that
regard. And with the bonus of a much larger (though sadly shrinking)
inventory, and an attached cafe.

~~~
greenie_beans
i'm admittedly a bookstore snob

------
pldr1234
After having consumed many ebooks, there is one unfortunate side-effect.

My memory/feel for a book seems to be partly tied to what I hold/the cover/the
font. I love ebooks, but once I've finished one, I just don't have the same
fondness/recollection of it afterwards anymore. This might be a very
individual thing though.

------
me_smith
I can spend hours in a used bookstore. I keep many of the books I am
interested in on a list and I eventually find them on the shelves of a used
book store. I usually come out with unexpected items as well. It is always a
joy.

If you are ever in San Jose, CA please stop by and support the Recycle
Bookstore. Great staff, a large collection and a couple cool cats.

------
werber
If you ever find yourself in Detroit, Michigan, United States check out John
K. King Bookstore, it is a giant warehouse of books

------
smithza
I recently read "How to Read a Book", the grand encouraging of pencil marking
and personalizing books (especially expositions), and have come out on the
other side wondering how giving books to friends will ever work moving
forward. I just have to fork down more money to the publishers to share great
thoughts and gift them.

~~~
dorchadas
I dunno. To me there seems something personal about sending forward a book
with your own notes in it. Especially if you encourage the other person to
comment on the notes, and then return it. Could be really neat to see their
thoughts and how it changed, etc.

------
x87678r
Being able pick a book up and flick through the pages is so much better than
buying online. However the price difference really isn't worth it.

In the USA I really resent the people who fill B&N, reading books for 15+
minutes before returning them to shelves. WTF. Makes me feel like I'm paying
for them.

------
scandox
I love bookshops but I don't know if enough people do for them to be
sustained.

One thing is for sure: working tech people don't buy technical books in
stores. The main bookshop in Dublin stocked a host of technical books for
years. It was an odd mix, but they tried to curate it in a reasonable way.
They would have things like K&R and odd volumes of TAOCP and Eloquent
Javascript - as well iPhone 6 for dummies...

But they gave it up a year ago and now only stock things absolutely required
for technical coursework in the University.

I'd love if there was a really well stocked, well curated technical bookshop
in Dublin. I thought a shop like that with working terminals and a "learning"
vibe would be lovely. But given what I've seen I don't think there's enough of
a market.

~~~
52-6F-62
Several bookstores have been sustaining themselves in Toronto for some time
now. We've lost some old favourites over time like World's Biggest Bookstore
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore)]

But there are several great ones that remain. Some offer online book shopping
now, others require physical presence.

Some of my favourites, and as far as I know they're still doing well enough:

* BMV [[http://www.bmvbooks.com](http://www.bmvbooks.com)]

* Zoinks! [[https://zoinks.ca](https://zoinks.ca)]

* Ayerego Books [[https://www.ayeregobooks.com](https://www.ayeregobooks.com)]

* ABC Bookstore [[https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/](https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/)]

* Seekers Books [[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,-79.405178,16.63z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sbookstore+yorkville+toronto!3m4!1s0x0:0xb560adce0ba3b352!8m2!3d43.6655967!4d-79.4084153)]

* Ben McNally Books [[https://benmcnallybooks.com](https://benmcnallybooks.com)]

* University of Toronto Bookstore [[https://uoftbookstore.com](https://uoftbookstore.com)] — Of course, we're lucky to have this one downtown. They have a large technical collection as well as pretty well any academic subject taught at U of T.

------
tartoran
This is true of other brick and mortar stores too. Theres a pleasure in
browsing without any intent to buy but with the surprise of finding something
unexpected. I hope we’ll see a comeback to regualar stores. Plus all the
shipping is a terrible waste, albeit very convenient

------
Lev1a
Meh, last time I was in a bookstore I found that the floor was being dominated
by:

\- school materials (pens, paper, rulers, glue etc. etc.)

\- trash tier romance "novels"

\- (auto-)biographies of all kinds of wastes of flesh (politicians,
"comedians")

\- the latest in teenager literature (Harry Potter, Twilight etc.)

But IMHO the straw that really broke the camels back was that the "Technik"
(technical) section was reduced to one shelf about 0.5m wide x 2m tall filled
with nothing but book(let)s on "how to learn touch-typing" and "how to teach
my grandparents to use the computer". That section had just a few years prior
been a whole corner of that store filled with all kinds of learning materials
on programming, computer science, electrical engineering and the like.

What a collossal decline...

------
smcameron
For about a decade, I used to live very close to a Barnes and Noble, and
almost as close to a Half-Price Books used book store. I'd go to each about
once a week and browse around. Bought loads of books from Half-Price books
(probably more than 1000 over 10 years), and a handful from Barnes and Noble.
Definitely found lots of books I never would have found on Amazon. OTOH, there
are lots of books I've bought from Amazon that I couldn't find in either of
those bookstore either, but those tend to be specialized. I never browse
Amazon for books, I wouldn't even know how to do that in any way that wasn't
just a pain in the ass.

------
useful
Maybe check out
[https://littlefreelibrary.org/](https://littlefreelibrary.org/) we grab books
on walks and leave any books we enjoy but no longer want.

------
altoidaltoid
especially a used bookstore.

~~~
dawg-
Yes, preferably one overflowing with books stacked on every possible flat
surface, just the right amount of disorganization that people can find
something cool that they never would have even looked for.

------
level3
It seems like a lot of people in this thread might be interested in a place
like Bunkitsu:

[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/03/30/books/enter-...](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/03/30/books/enter-
bunkitsu-like-gallery-bookstore/)

It's a bookstore in Tokyo that actually charges an admission fee, but it looks
like a great place to spend a whole day around books.

------
throwawaysea
I recently learned of [https://bookshop.org/](https://bookshop.org/), which is
a website that pays out part of their earnings to local bookstores. As someone
who loves local shopping and wants to see us move away from an economy ruled
by a few mega tech corps, this seems like a happy medium that retains the
convenience of online shopping while retaining local, independent stores.

------
psadri
I make a point of shopping at our local bookstores, even though they are not
always the convenient option, just to help keep them around.

I do wish bookstores focused more on their discovery and curation. For
example, I’d probably buy a lot more books if they had a “if you liked this
<popular book>, you might also like <less popular book1>, ...”

I even suggested this to our local bookstore but got a confused, blank stare
:-(

~~~
faet
One thing my local bookstore does that I enjoy is the "Blind Date". They wrap
a book in craft paper and write a short description on it.

They're usually slightly less popular, but still good books.

------
robotburrito
I have been using electronic books much less lately. I have come to the
conclusion that it is nice to read a real book that when you are done with you
can give to a friend to read.

Or sell the books you are done with.

It is also a shame that the e-book industry seemed to try their hardest to
make getting an e-book from the library on your reader nearly impossible or
outright super confusing.

~~~
sigwinch28
I use a Rakuten Kobo and - luckily - my local library's books are accessible
via a service called OverDrive.

It's the predatory practices of the publishing industry that stop us from
giving our ebooks to a friend to read: DRM stops us from sharing what we have
purchased, and in many jurisdictions it is illegal to circumvent.

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Mikeb85
Hate to say it, but I've been using Amazon for 2 decades simply because I buy
a lot of specialized books - the kind that aren't in most physical stores, or
French language books (the selection here is very small). I do enjoy
bookstores but most simply cater to the masses and it's probably a tough
business for them to be in as well.

~~~
veddox
The bookshops I know (in Germany) have an excellent ordering service,
especially the academic bookshops in my university town.

I used to order everything via Amazon, but eventually I figured I wanted to
support one of our lovely little local bookshops, so I buy all my books there
now. They rarely have the books I want, so I still have to order (via them),
but it's almost as fast as Amazon, if not always quite as cheap. But I love
the old ladies that run it, and simply dropping in for a chat with them is
worth the extra cost and effort :-)

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grawprog
I can't handle most new book stores, places like chapters and stuff, but I
love browsing through used book stores. You never know what you're going to
find. I've found some pretty cool old books tucked away in random places.
First editions or other rare things or just books you'd never find anywhere
else, even online.

~~~
wtetzner
Yeah, used book stores can be fantastic. You find things you've never heard
of, and didn't know you wanted.

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quijoteuniv
There are really nice public libraries in Norway, so no need for the
bookstores, they are also interconected so you can ask for any book that any
other library has and it cones in a few days, and if they do not have it they
are usually happy to buy as per one suggestion. No used book stores like in
latin America though!

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t0mmel
I thoroughly enjoy going to Indigo to browse their somewhat dated Software
Dev. Books. I always find something that could be interesting in there. And I
have to say that buying a book physically makes me commit to that purchase
waaaaay more thank any ebook.

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acd
Support your local store by shopping there and they will be around tomorrow.
Even if you get a little less for your money you get a greater experience than
buying everything online. Plus you support local jobs and communities.

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noir-york
How can you love reading and not appreciate a well curated bookshelf whether
at someone's home, or a bookshop?!

The sheer joy of browsing Hatchards... last time I visited I found a first
English edition of Proust and I just had to have it.

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discordance
There’s something about the physical manifestation of a catalogue that’s very
enticing.

I would say browsing a magazine rack, a book store, a VHS store, a clothes
rack are all much more engaging than online. Could VR help here?

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pvaldes
Introducing all prices only in computer scanners removed deliberately all the
fun in my opinion. Seems carefully designed with the main purpose in mind to
discourage customers to buy. It is stupid by design

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g051051
I used to love browsing book stores. But over the years, the subjects that I
was interested in got less and less shelf space, and today it's just not worth
even going.

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Animats
Printing books in bulk may not survive the epidemic. When I order "paperback
books" from Amazon now, I usually get something from the print-on-demand
system.

~~~
veddox
"Printing books in bulk" has survived quite a few epidemics in the past 500
years... Why do you think this one is different?

~~~
Animats
There are better alternatives. And far fewer bookstores willing to stock
inventory.

Amazon really wants you to buy a download for Kindle, which costs them little,
rather than ship a physical book, which they have to buy and warehouse.

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indrax
Find a big thrift store near a big university. Slightly old and decades old
textbooks for $3.50 . Plus _interesting_ books.

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xwdv
I would like to browse a bookstore made only of books that you could not find
online , or anywhere else really.

~~~
cafard
Or anywhere else? This is starting to sound like Borges.

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wj
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is a novel that bookshop lovers might enjoy.

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birdyrooster
Nostalgia run amok. This is why the world advances when people die.

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praveen9920
Its true. I love browsing through the bookstore or libraries. No online
experience can replace that. The potential for discovering something new to
read and learn is the main contributor for this thrill. I like randomly
picking a book from some section that I never been to and read it for a while
to get a gist. I may or may not end up buying but that small gist brings me
immense pleasure

Note:I'm not able to read the article because of paywall

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Rerarom
I usually browse bookstores, take pictures of books that look interesting then
download them in pirated form.

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crb002
Half Price Books FTW

~~~
mcguire
Or McKay's Used Books in the east.

Not as good as the Half Price Books on North Lamar in Austin, but nothing much
is.

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falcolas
I can't read this due to the subscription paywall, but a couple of thoughts on
the topic:

I feel like nobody has really tried to emulate a bookstore. Instead, everyone
online focuses so hard on selling, largely by "you like X, so you'll like "X',
X'', and X'''".

Even only browsing by genres only ever shows the popular books, and some of
those popular books show up in whichever genres they can shoehorn them into,
leading to bland and repetitive experiences.

I guess that ultimately here's a thrill not because bookstores are somehow not
special, but because it's easy to get past the 'Bestseller' advertising and
into, pardon the pun, novel territory.

~~~
coffeefirst
BetterWorldBooks.com is the closest to feeling like a bookstore in website
form. But overall I agree, I love the idea of trying to capture the sense of
serendipity and staff recommendations. It's tricky, since you can't "wander
around" a website.

Books are the most human thing we have: they're literally paper bricks that
contain peoples' thoughts. It feels like we're missing something to present
them online in the same way we sell socks.

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MintelIE
Good bookstores are so rare, Powell's is about the only one worth visiting.
Chain bookstores sell so much pulp, garbage, remaindered coffee table books
about cats, etc.

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chinesempire
There's no replacement for the thrill of driving a manual gear, but in US it's
almost impossible to find one.

So I guess it depends.

