Went to a Bookstore Today

[twowheels]

I saw a recently opened used bookstore today (yesterday, being past midnight) and decided to pop in to take a look. I walked around for a while and left empty handed.

The experience was surreal. After so many years of not reading a paper book I was looking at them and thinking they felt so foreign and awkward. I picked up a thick Steven King book and couldn't imagine myself lugging that thing around for a few weeks. Even the pulp sci-fI books, my favorites before, felt so strange.

I used to say how I'd miss the smell, the texture, the experience. Now I can't imagine going back.

I guess my conversion is complete. Even the nostalgia is gone.

[crich70]

One thing I've always thought would be good would be to have a room with floor to ceiling bookcases and a window seat. In other words a classic model of a personal library. Of course I have neither the room nor the $ to achieve that, but I have the next best thing via my collection of ebooks. I rarely buy paper books any more either.

[library addict]

I rarely buy paper, but still read from my print TBR pile.

I haven't been to a proper book store since Borders closed. There are no more used bookstores in my area and the B&N at the mall is not for me.

[tubemonkey]

I went to one of those back in the 90's; and never since.

[Quexos]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I used to say how I'd miss the smell, the texture, the experience. Now I can't imagine going back.

I guess my conversion is complete. Even the nostalgia is gone.

I did the same, went into a bookstore and my feelings were the total opposite of yours. While I'm probably never giving up my e-reader and my iPad ways of reading, I couldn't help but admire those thousands of books lying in front of me, the covers, the bindings, the smell of paper, the texture etc. Of course I left the store empty handed too as I was not looking for anything specific. But I just don't think we can completely turn our backs on a medium that saw the birth of literature, a medium that has been around for centuries, it would be like forgetting that we had to invent the wheel before having our modern cars or forgetting the pyramids or everything that made our history what it is.

E-readers are practical and they clearly are the future but paper books are our past, our history and it feels to me almost like forgetting about them altogether is a way to say that we may read books but we don't fully appreciate them or understand what they mean and stood for all those past centuries.

Forget and lose yourself in the machine and you will forget that you are human...

[Yolina]

I still buy some pbooks - there's so much stuff not yet available in e-format. I don't really want to restrict my reading choices because of it.

[HarryT]

I still buy a lot of paper books. Very few of the reference books I need for my Egyptology degree are available as ebooks.

[John F]

I went to a bookstore this week, B&N.

I stopped and looked at a couple of books that I had as ebooks. Than I went to look at the ereaders and tablets.

They had some interesting stuff though. I saw some vinyl records and some drones.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I still buy a lot of paper books. Very few of the reference books I need for my Egyptology degree are available as ebooks.

I rarely buy paper books anymore, but that's because I had already bought most of the reference books that I needed and almost all of the new books are available in ebooks. The last paper book that I bought was "To the Gates of Richmond:The Peninsula Campaign" written back in 1992 by Stephen Sears. I bought it a few months ago, because it was a gap in my collection. His Gettysburg book, written in 2003 was the first of his books that was available in ebook.

[Apache]

The only bookstore in my town is a Books A Million. It is starting to resemble a toy store more than a bookstore. They even sell T Shirts. Over the last few years I have noticed that they keep shrinking the shelves dedicated to books and replacing them with toys and games. Yes I understand that they are trying to find a new niche and struggling to stay alive.
Apache

[Dr. Drib]

I love and collect used books - mostly First Editions in Fine/Fine condition.

My more than 2,000 hardbacks are currently in a climate-controlled storage.

Some authors simply aren't available in ebook format, such as Nobel winner Claude Simon and most of the work of Gilbert Sorrentino, so I own these in American Firsts.

Other examples, where an ebook just doesn't 'cut it' (as we say in English):

My 1890s complete set of Charles Dickens that smells and feels so nice to the touch.

My first edition (F/F) of Ann Rice's "Interview with the Vampire."

To my way of thinking, nothing can replace a bookcase wall full of books. I had that before to Peru, and I'll have it again, just as soon as I cough up the $3000-$4000 dollars to have them shipped here and then have a wall-sized bookcase designed for my study (or computer room, as I actually call it now).

My specialty is post-modernist novels, and 20th C. Literature, although I also have a number of uncorrected galleys by Stephen King and other valuable genre-related items, such as an almost complete set of the Ballantine paperback Adult Fantasy Series (in NM condition).

After this all happens, I plan to acquire the complete set of Anthony Trollope, published by the Folio Society. The cost should only be between $600 - $1000. While I own the Delphi Classics ebook, nothing can compare to owning this beautiful set and having access to it while settled back in a comfortable chair and a good light.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Quexos

I did the same, went into a bookstore and my feelings were the total opposite of yours. While I'm probably never giving up my e-reader and my iPad ways of reading, I couldn't help but admire those thousands of books lying in front of me, the covers, the bindings, the smell of paper, the texture etc. Of course I left the store empty handed too as I was not looking for anything specific. But I just don't think we can completely turn our backs on a medium that saw the birth of literature, a medium that has been around for centuries, it would be like forgetting that we had to invent the wheel before having our modern cars or forgetting the pyramids or everything that made our history what it is.

E-readers are practical and they clearly are the future but paper books are our past, our history and it feels to me almost like forgetting about them altogether is a way to say that we may read books but we don't fully appreciate them or understand what they mean and stood for all those past centuries.

Forget and lose yourself in the machine and you will forget that you are human...

Scrolls saw the birth of literature.
They have been gone for a very long time.

Of course, you can't depict a three dimensional story adequately in a two dimensional medium. Storytelling reached its apex in the clay tablet.

[DiapDealer]

If I got in my car right now, I would be uncertain which direction to go to even find a relatively close book store. I remember where one used to be (about an hour and ten minutes from my home), but I've been told it's no longer there.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Forget and lose yourself in the machine and you will forget that you are human...

Every time I watch the news I wish I *could* forget I'm human.
There's a reason my reading of choice is SF&F.

And I kinda like it when I manage to lose myself in an XBOX world.
"Human" is overrated.
Cats and dogs, however...

[bookaho!ic]

i dont buy paperbacks anymore. I have some keepers that i will always cherish but stick to my ereader. I am in hospital in 2 weeks for day surgery and cannot take in anyelectronic equipment at all (they cannot guarantee security) so my best friend has lent me a book for the day