bookstores

An NY literary landmark and intellectual oasis since 1927, The Strand has always been a hip, independent and romantic symbol of the city’s literary status. Nowadays, though, it’s become the scene of ire, rife with allegations of racial discrimination and accusations of tyranny. Is the independent and world’s largest used bookstore morphing into a corporate entity that cares only for profits?

The trick to getting people to go to church is to stock the church with books, like they’ve done in Holland. Selexyz Dominicanen is a book shop housed in a 13th-century Dominican church, and it’s become highly popular, with its three-story book stack and choir café. It’s an appropriate use for now redundant churches; after all, “in the beginning was the Word.”

It’s up to those of us who don’t know the terrible torment of constant agony to take up the slack and offer up the sunnier view. To that end I have composed my own list of the “The 9 Least Annoying People I Occasionally See at the Bookstore.” FRUIT-SCENTED-SHAMPOO CHECKOUT GIRL: You smell like strawberries! I could buy books from you all day!

"Few things are as peaceful or enjoyable to me as just hanging out at the bookstore for a while. Unless you’re there. And by “you,” I mean one of the nine groups of people on this list, increasingly driving me toward Amazon."

When they start accepting handouts and reviewing strategic alternatives, it doesn’t look good. Anybody want to buy a book store, like new, as is?

A humorous look at book thievery from the perspective of an independent bookstore owner. “Every shoplifter caught is a major victory against the forces of darkness; every one who escapes is another 10 minutes kept awake at night with gnashing teeth.” Who knew there was an “underground economy of boosted books?”

Here’s where the bricks and mortar book world meets the digital world. Borders has unveiled its latest concept—a store where shoppers can mix and burn CDs, explore their genealogies and even publish their own novels. You might as well print your photos while you’re there too. So, my question is, is this still a bookstore?

From The Atlantic Monthly archives: A look around any of the superstores will show that more risky and experimental fiction, more first novels, and more serious nonfiction are available to general readers all over the country than ever before. Why the characterization of the chain bookstores as a sort of intellectual McDonald's, a symbol of the dumbing-down and standardization of American life?

I don’t know a book lover who doesn’t dream of owning a bookshop, even if it’s just a downtime fantasy. Blogger Lee Rourke describes the fantasy bookshop that he is building in his mind. What would your dream bookshop look like?

In case there are any other Canucks out there:

The Book Room has survived two World Wars and the Great Depression, but the oldest bookstore in Canada can’t survive the competition from book selling pharmacies and grocery stores or the pressure to lower prices to reflect a stronger Canadian dollar. This Nova Scotia institution has served the book loving public for the past 169 years. *sniff*