What Bookstores Are Left

I have 2 Barnes & Noble bookstores by me. 1 a 5 minute walk (2 stories tall), and the other a 10 minute drive (3 stories tall). 2 more bookstores (3rd Place Books) are 5 minutes and 10 minutes away from me. Then there's also the campus (UW) bookstore which is about 5 minutes away. There are 2 used bookstores in under 5 minutes, and 1 antique bookstore.

All told, there are 8 bookstores within 10 minutes of me that I regularly haunt. So I've never noticed a lack of bookstores. But hey, it might just be that I'm right by the University, right? So I mapped. Expand that radius to 20 minutes and I have more than 60 bookstores (over 100 are listed, but I'm not including new age, religious, etc.).

So at least here, in Microsoft land, there's no lack or loss of people who want real pages, whatsoever.

If they all closed, I'd cry.

Use the privately owned bookstore - those little bookstores are the ones being crushed by the conglomerates and on-line ordering.

Also, visit your local library - I love my library and have many spontaneous conversations in the racks.

This is exactly how I feel too. I will never do an e-reader either. And I wonder how the people who love and use them figure out what books they will read? Do they ever go out of their interest zone ? When I walk through a bookstore oftentimes a book I wouldn't have thought I would like looks so interesting that I try it...how does this happen with a kindle?

Just wanted to let you know that I feel the same excitement about going to bookstores and the same sadness as what you feel about them apparently dying. ☹

I love, love, love bookstores. I would love to be able to hang in the coffee shop and read for hours. However, since I work full time and have two active little kids, I just don't have the time to do this. Although I have taken the kids into a bookstore for a few minutes to get books for them, it is not a relaxing experience. I do read a lot though. I do have a NOOK that I absolutely love. I check out e-books through my local library and I do buy some ont he B&N website.

The times, they are a changin'...
I love my kindle, I must admit. I love walking around with an entire library in my purse.
But I also love the feel and smell of real books. And I love love love bookstores, especially used bookstores. I'm lucky enough to live right outside Berkeley/San Francisco so there's no shortage of bookstores here (heck we still have record stores!)
If there's none near you your best bet is the library. You can still get your book smell fix there ;) Otherwise there are lots of booksellers online (not just amazon.)

Exactly!! I feel the exact same way you do. I can't imagine that bookstores are disappearing forever...don't people still like to read books? Plus, the Borders near us had a few author events where you could meet the author and get your book signed; and kids' events where the kids could go and read stories together; and a cafe that you could sit in and relax while reading. I would love to go to an independent bookstore, but there aren't any around anymore that are near us. The closest bookstore to us is a Barnes & Noble. I really wish that there were more choices around.

I don't understand the appeal of e-Readers, either. I hate reading off of a screen unless it's something short; when I have to read a long article or an actual book I can't stand staring at a screen for long periods of time. Plus, it doesn't feel like a real book when it's on something electronic. I am very "old-fashioned" I guess when it comes to books. And even ordering online isn't the same as actually being able to look at the books on the bookshelf, choosing the one you want, and buying it right away. I can't imagine that books are going to disappear completely...

I am very upset and sad, too. My biggest fear now is that libraries will become a thing of the past, and we definitely couldn't live without the library. As much as we love Borders, we go to the library at least two or three times a week, and I can't imagine not having tons of books that my kids check out from the library.

I just hope that independent bookstores stick around, and maybe more of them will open since Borders is no longer around...although in the current economy that might not happen anytime soon. I wish I could win the lottery; then I could open up my own bookstore/cafe and then I wouldn't have to worry about it ever closing down. :-)

I love the very thing you describe. Just going to the bookstore to seek out a new awaited book. I believe barnes and nobles is still around and booksamillion is still around in SC so maybe they are still there around you. I am sad to see it go. I can see the upsides of the e-readers, but after doing research for a persuasive speech I can see quite a bit of downsides. I wouldn't like paying $100 then paying the same price for an e-book. To each it's own, I definitely understand both sides, but it is sad to see bookstores like you are saying close down.

k

Take heart, book lovers! There is a movement within the homeschool community wherein students are studying the classics, and engaging in the "Great Conversation" of our civilization's printed words. This year, we'll be reading a variety of classics from the Middle Ages, including The Canterbury Tales, The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare, Le Morte d'Arthur, and more.
It's also encouraging that while kids don't use physical books for research anymore, they do conduct legitimate research on the internet.
I was sad to hear of Borders' closure, but I believe that a segment of our population will continue to study and keep the Great Conversation alive.

Is there a public library branch near you? I find the same excitement prowling through my local library. And the books are free on loan! But I miss being able to get myself a latte…

You are not alone! My daughter & I are actually going to Borders today to shop the going out of business sale. I'm not sure how far you are from downtown Naperville but my daughter really likes the Andersons book store there. I believe they have a website. There is also a large Barnes & Noble in downtown Naperville. Good Luck! I feel your pain & my husband would feel exactly the same way about Home Depot :)

I feel your pain. Borders is an anchor store in our little downtown. I'm really hoping they put a Barnes & Nobel or something in it's place. It would suck not to have a large bookstore there. My son LOVES bookstores (definitely MY kid). We can spend hours browsing the children's section.

You might try out the privately owned store. Sometimes those have even more of that bookstore feeling you're looking for (more really book lovers and fewer, "I just stopped in for the AC and a cup of coffee" folks).

Barnes & Nobel is still around. I have the e-ink NOOK (which I know you don't want), and I have to say it really does get the reading a book feeling down. I still go to the actually bookstore... when I'm in a B&N store I can browse all the books on my NOOK without buying them (just like with the physical books) and it gives me a coupon to use in the coffee shop. :)

If your issue really is where to get new books regularly, you might want to spend some store time playing with the e-readers. I was pleasantly surprised by how much like a book the e-ink is (not the color ones that are basically a tablet).

HTH
T.

There is Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL if that helps.

I love book shopping.
We go to Barnes & Noble and come home with books to keep us reading for weeks.
But increasingly the books we're looking for are not in stock, so when we have books on the list we're still looking for, we try Amazon next and have them within a few days (as oppose to waiting weeks when you special order in store).
Also, I just got a Sony Digital reader as a 25 year service award gift.
I like 'real' books (my library room at home is so piled with them some one's going to get hurt if they fall on anyone), but I've already got 50 ebooks (for free) and it takes up so little space.
I'm afraid this has been coming ever since word processing over took type writers (remember type writers, ink ribbons, white out?).
How long will it be before school books are on disk (or e readers) and kids won't be lugging 50+ lb back packs back and forth on the bus anymore?
We've got paper plants closing down because the demand for paper is dropping.
We'll have to roll with the changes - we don't have much choice about it.