I don't support the bookstores I love

[xchrom]

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/07/11/ereader_online_books_open2011/index.html

My Tiny Hypocrisy is a personal essay series about coming to terms with our own little moral inconsistencies. A longer version of this piece originally appeared on Kevin Mims' Open Salon blog.

A TV commercial I saw recently sums up a lot of what is wrong with modern life. In it, a lovely young woman tells a man of her own age that she's going to a bookstore to pick up a copy of some sensational new bestseller. She asks the young man if he'd like to come along to the bookstore with her. The man turns down her offer saying, in effect, "No thanks. I've got a Kindle . I can download the book right now and begin reading it in seconds."

The ad aims to show how this e-reader can improve your life, but this guy looks like he's losing out. If I were a single man in my twenties and a hot young woman asked me to accompany her to a bookstore, I'd leap at the opportunity, even if I had no desire to purchase a book. Bookstores are generally acknowledged as enjoyable places to hang out. That's why the characters in romantic comedies ("You've Got Mail," "Dan In Real Life," "Notting Hill," etc.) are often seen together in bookstores. And so, as the commercial ended, I fumed to my wife about the manifold evils of a society that encourages people to use electronic devices in order to avoid such things as intercourse with other human beings who are actively seeking one's companionship. And yet, there was an element of hypocrisy in my ranting and raving.

I buy several hundred books a year, but most of them are purchased from Amazon.com. There are at least a half dozen bookstores in my city (Sacramento) that I visit regularly. But while browsing a shop, I'll usually compile a list of all the titles that interest me so I can go home and order cheap used copies of said books from Amazon.com (or, more accurately, third-party sellers who hawk their used books via Amazon's website). Unlike the young man in the commercial, I enjoy getting out of the house and perusing bookshelves in the company of my fellow book-lovers. But, in most cases, I ultimately purchase the book online; so the money leaves my bank account and travels across the country where it does no good for the Sacramento economy. I am a 53-year-old man who complains about how e-books are making the world a less social place, and yet, when it comes time to purchase an actual book, I do pretty much what the young man in the commercial did -- I order it from a distant site via an electronic device that provides me with no personal interaction with the seller.

[grasswire]

1. I love bookstores.

Any trip to any bookstore will have me lusting for dozens of books. I usually must leave with one, though.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. I've seen the commercial. I have to say, I'm guilty of not frequently bookstores

as much as I use to. :-(

[Brickbat]

3. Our last local bookstore closed last year. I buy the majority of my new books from Powells online,

because it's union, and Amazon is a union-buster.

[geckosfeet]

4. Me too. Amazon gets almost all my book and cd purchase dollars.

My dvd purchases are split pretty evenly between Amazon and various retail outlets (Best Buy, Target, BJ's).

[petronius]

5. Funny, that was my immediate response to the commercial as well

(The "what a moron!" response, not the thoughtful economic and social analysis. :))

I've ordered very little on-line recently, but I'm feeling more and more strongly about supporting local businesses as the economy drags on. It's a bit painful to think closely and realize how often I take the easy route of shopping at the big chain store, or grab an item without checking the label. Not that I want to make every shopping trip an epic hunt for the local-domestic-union-green-fair trade-blue company grail, but I could be more thoughtful at times, to keep my money in the community...

[xchrom]

6. ...

:thumbsup:

[OneGrassRoot]

13. I'll second that...

:thumbsup:

K&R

Thanks, xchrom

:hi:

[bif]

7. I try to avoid Amazon. Have you tried ABE?

http://www.abebooks.com/

American Booksellers Exchange

[xchrom]

8. i do a lot of this now...

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

Trade Books for Free with our online Book Swap...
PaperBackSwap on CBS Atlanta

* It's easy: List books you'd like to swap with other club members.
* Once a book is requested, mail it to the club member.
* In return, you may choose from 5,101,255 available books!

- Books you request are mailed to you for free.
- No late fees. No hidden charges.

[Adsos Letter]

17. Thanks xchrom! I just signed up.

:thumbsup:

[xchrom]

18. I think you'll have fun w/ it. Nt

[MisterP]

23. for comprehensiveness, try

www.isbn.nu

and for ereaders, try to get one that's not a monopsony (the Kindle uses Amazon's eBook format)

[avebury]

9. With the economy the way it is and living essentially on a fixed

income, monetary savings has to trump anything else when I shop. I shop either Audible or amazon for my books when I can get a better deal. Plus shopping online saves on wear and tear and gasoline costs on my car. I try to save more these days by using the library. I love to download audiobooks from the library without ever having to leave home. Pretty soon, ebooks will also be downloadable onto my kindle as well.

When I see a book that I want to read I ask myself why should I spend money for it if I can get it from the library for free.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. WORST. AD. EVER.

"Young straight men! Buy a Kindle/Nook/Whatever and you can avoid those undesirable encounters with hot chicks!"

Jesus FUCK.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. CORRECTION: NOT SO STUPID.

A friend of mine who works at Amazon just described me the rest of the ad:

The girl doesn't go off without him. The book he downloads is the book she wanted, so she "steals" his Kindle and starts reading it.

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. GOOD!!

There always has to be someone who replies with "GOOD!"

This article is silly. Reading is the most anti-social activity one can engage in.
If a pretty young lady wants you to accompany her, take her to a bar.

Then you can bring her home later and have all the intercourse your heart can handle.

[Rhythm]

12. We're lucky enough to have a great new/used bookshop with a generous trade-in policy

I cannot in good conscience allow my book-buying dollars to go into the pockets of the big-box retailers/online monoliths who run these small shops out of business.

Lyric and i frequent The Bookshelf (http://mymorgantownmusings.blogspot.com/2009/08/bookshelf.html) as often as our budget will allow...
There's always something worth buying, and the owner of the shop is worth his weight in gold.
Also, I cannot make due with electronic gadgetry... I want to riffle the pages through my fingers, and flip to the dog-eared page where i left off.

[xchrom]

14. ...

:thumbsup:

[Quantess]

15. E-books are overrated, in my opinion.

I will always prefer reading from solid, paper, pages.

[mike_c]

16. I buy books EVERYWHERE....

Online, in bookstores, from friends, etc. If I see a book that I want in a bookstore, I don't usually have the patience to remember it and order online later. Likewise, most books I order from Amazon et al are discovered while browsing their sites (Amazon's recommendations have pointed me to dozens of good reads, too!).

[eppur_se_muova]

19. Books from the bookstore, so I can see all the books I would NEVER know to look for.

CD's from Amazon, because there's not a music store worthy of the name left in business.

Oh, and if I *really* want to order a book -- Powell's.

[applegrove]

20. I love browsing in bookstores. The best ones are the ones in airports because

they only have the best/most popular books for sale there. I also love the recommended books from Oprah and the like.

[cali]

21. I support my local bookstore. How lucky am I to live in a town of 3,000

that supports a fantastic bookstore? (and it's a poor town; we just like to read)

http://www.galaxybookshop.com/

[Scuba]

24. I love the Public Library! n/t