Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about bookstores…
How many bookstores do you frequent? Do you have a favourite? If so, which one and what makes it so?
Sadly, I don't have a very creative answer for this question. Out here in the suburbs of Seattle I don't have a great choice of bookstores. I can go to a Borders Books, or a Barnes and Noble, both of them being big chain stores. There just aren't any independent book shops around. There is a small used bookstore in town called Browsers Books but I don't really like going in there. It is in a very old building that kind of smells and it is always cold inside. The guy who owns it is a nice guy, and I do buy books once in a while from there, but it isn't cozy and welcoming.
I used to love going to my Borders store-it was large and spacious with lots of seating and a coffee shop inside. Then they moved their location into a big mall, but they have less space so everything is crunched together, there is terrible lighting and worst of all, there are hardly any chairs or benches.
So, as a matter of protest, I usually now go to the Barnes and Nobel up the street from the mall and buy my books even though it doesn't have many places to sit either!
How about you? To play along or visit other musing monday participants, visit Rebecca over at One More Page.
I agree...chairs and coziness are very important. I can't find a bookstore with both, but when I do, I might never leave. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou need to take a weekend to visit Powell's! I wonder what else is in the Seattle area.
ReplyDeleteI tend to visit online as it saves me money in the long run and for that I love barnesandnoble.com; For visiting I like both Borders and Barnes and Noble. We really don't have any other options around here.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! There is only one indie store where I live and it just opened up - I'm going there this weekend. Other than that its BooksAMillion and Barnes & Noble, which is waaaay on the other side of town (about 30 minutes away). The store I use the most is a little used bookstore close to my house.
ReplyDeleteMy fave store is Vromans but it's not close to me. I go there when I visit the Pasadena area. It's small but they make good use of the space. No place to sit down really but I just plop down onto the floor when I have to sit.
ReplyDeleteSo since Vromans is not nearby I end up going to Barnes and Noble or Borders, which are like right across from each other (poor planning). I much prefer Barnes even though their coffee place is like right in the middle of the store and they make all this racket.
The Borders has a leaky AC unit and it always smells musty in there.
Wonder if Borders feels like they made a mistake moving from the former location to a less inviting one?
ReplyDelete