I sure hope Barnes and Noble doesn't fail. I may be a rarity but I don't miss independent stores at all. My reading interests are primarily scifi/fantasy....if I go to a bookstore I want as large a selection of books to browse as possible. The big bookstores can provide that, the little independents can't. If I want something specialized I'll go through Amazon. If I'm looking for entertaining reading I'd prefer to spend an hour looking through a ton of books.
That's for new books - I do love the independent used book stores, because you simply never know what you'll find on a given day. Unfortunately (and a little ironically) I live in Vancouver, about twenty minutes from Powell's books. Powell's has pretty much destroyed the used book market in the area.
|