When I visited the Pacific North-West in 2015 (I herald from Italy), I made a point of visiting Powell’s Bookstore in Portland (OR) and even chose my hotel (which turned out to be the very hip Ace Hotel) based on proximity to it.
I pointedly decided to buy second-hand copies of several of my favourite books (The Computational Beauty of Nature by Gary William Flake and Surfaces & Essences by Douglas Hofstadter & Emmanuel Sander) from them, despite the absurd logistical hassle of buying them and transcontinentally shipping them home because I wanted storied copies with no pristine air to them.
I pointedly decided to buy second-hand copies of several of my favourite books (The Computational Beauty of Nature by Gary William Flake and Surfaces & Essences by Douglas Hofstadter & Emmanuel Sander) from them, despite the absurd logistical hassle of buying them and transcontinentally shipping them home because I wanted storied copies with no pristine air to them.