I like bookshops.
I like to browse, flicking through books, checking the offers, the new releases.
I like the SMELL of bookshops. They are second only to libraries.
I don't like buying books online. In fact I only buy ANYTHING online if desperate.
I like to support my local bookshop against the onslaught of online book shops.
And they do need support. A nearby one shutdown recently - the owner had got to the stage where he felt that the shop was nothing more than a showroom were people would look at the stock and then stand there and order the thing online using their iPhone!
Anyway, to the point of this post.
Back in June I ordered a book at my local bookshop. The publishers had intended that anyone who wanted it would buy it online, but my reasoning was that if it had an ISBN number then my local shop SHOULD be able to get it.
And I was right.
Eventually.
It arrived today!
I make that just over 4 months.
OK, so I did almost give up a couple of times, but after a while I just wanted to see it through to the end.
The guy in the shop was SOOOooo pleased to give it to me - and he almost believed me when I said that I didn't want it any more...
Have a great weekend!
4 comments:
4 month to get it? In today's timeline, that is like forever. Was the guy still writing the book?
I'm like you. I prefer a good old fashioned brick and mortar book store to browse (get lost in). With all the online stores and big mega chains like Borders and B&N, those are becoming harder to find. I actually shop HalfPriced books over here that sells mostly 2nd hand books and record/cds.
Oh man, how horrible that would be if you really did not want it anymore. We don't have a book shop in our town and we buy everything local that is available to us, but if it is not, we buy online. Some things we go to the next towns, fifteen miles in each direction on the highway east and west. Glad you hung in there and that it paid off for you. By the way, what is the name of the book if you don't mind saying.
"Anything worth having is worth waiting for." I'm an avid reader. Books delight me. My house is overrun with them. It is my one vice. I understand exactly where you are coming from. ENJOY your new reading material. Take care.
I cannot say loving books is my only vice. Not by a long shot. But I DO love bookstores. Only here in the states, where I live, the closest non-chain bookstore is over an hour away. Barnes and Noble has now driven all competition away, here in the Land of Malls. It makes me overwhelmingly sad.
I have to say, though, that one day I will have electronic books because I keep downsizing because of financial worries. And I won't have room for all my books, but I'll still want to have classics on hand for rereading. My friends want to give me a Kindle, but I have said not yet.
I have to finger my books for a few years more!
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