This week’s theme for Thursday Thoughts, hosted by Ok, Let’s Read, is “bookstores”. Which is actually a suggestion I made, so hee. (P.S. Looks like we’re running out of themes, so do go and drop in some prompts.)
My Favorite Bookstore – When it comes to buying books which store is your favorite? Do you prefer big chain stores or independent bookstores? Do you even have any independent bookstores near where you live? And, here’s the one that’s going to be the most revealing; How often would you say you go to the bookstore? Do you buy something every time you go there?
It really depends on what I’m looking for. For example, if I’m looking for comics, I avoid Forbidden Planet. I either go to Waterstones for TPBs, or my local indie for individual issues. It’s a tiny little place, I think the walls might be supported with comics/comics merchandise, and it looks like you can order online, so hey: Comic Guru.
Generally, the Waterstones stores in Leeds, Wakefield or Cardiff are where I do the bulk of my shopping. There is an indie bookshop in Cardiff, but it doesn’t have the biggest stock ever. If there’s something I want to order, they can do that, but if I just want to browse, I want to have a reasonably big store to wander around in. The indie is really friendly, but so are the staff in all the Waterstones stores I frequent, too. Some of them, I’ve been seeing working there for ten years. And yes, I recognise them and often they will also recognise me. Gulp. I might spend a bit too much time in bookshops. The reward system in Waterstones is good though…
There’s a secondhand bookshop in Cardiff that’s great, too. Generally I’d go there if I’m looking for something unusual, something I won’t come across as a glossy paperback. Lots of classic SF and fantasy there, as well as a big section for general fiction, etc. Some rare books too, I think, and a lot of individual issues of classic comics. All in all: you never know what you’ll be able to find there.
How often I go there, well — every few weeks, probably? Or whenever I’m close by. I don’t always buy something, but I quite often do, because I’m a fast reader and, more importantly, weak.
Mind you, at the moment, I don’t go at all. Book ban for me until WorldCon.
Great answers. I have a Waterstones near me too, but I barely buy any books from there. I prefer buying online because I get better deals and, more often then not, pre-orders are sent out to you early and you get them before release day.
Every few weeks? Now I am kind of embarrassed by my answer, haha. Here’s mine, it’s all in the second half of the post! 🙂
I think the stamp cards keep me going to Waterstones — that and the fact that they have so many different sections, which makes it a good place to browse for someone eclectic like me. I don’t like shopping online in some ways ’cause it’s harder to browse. Also, I like to diversify where I get my books from: some Kobo, some Kindle, some indie, some Waterstones, some second hand…
I’d go more often if I wasn’t living out of town and if it wasn’t such awful temptation, heh.
I’m on a book ban myself, minus an exception for books I have been waiting on like Opposition, Isla or Sacrifice. Before this past Tuesday, it had been almost a month since I’d been in a bookstore!
I would say more than half of the books on my bookshelves are from secondhand shops. Unfortunately, the closest one to me is almost 45 minutes away now that I’ve moved.
Oo also, I had a great experience buying from Waterstones online a couple years back. The UK version of a book I wanted was due out two months before the US version, so I found Waterstones online and pre-ordered the UK one 🙂
That’s a long time for a bookworm!
Heh, I use The Book Depository to get US versions of books that are out there first!
Lol!