The Bookstore

I live in the San Fernando Valley here in what is considered part of Los Angeles. Ten years ago there was a probably something close to a dozen used book stores that I had seen personally, but I know there were more I haven't. I've seen many of them disappear, and as far as I know there's only three on my side of the Valley. Its very sad, because some of the most things to read are no longer in print. Which in some cases makes something more valuable, depending on the rarity of it, and when a book was published.  Seems like places Amazon, and other websites, are driving bookstores out of business.  Though it seems to me that bookstores ain't offering any discounts, unless its your birthday or you bought a certain amount of Harry Potter crap.  The used bookstore is still a great place to find things, sometimes there are some real literary gems just waiting to be found out there.  For the most part the physical needs to keep in mind what they're charging isn't what the internet is charging, and often times the internet is still cheaper even after you factor in shipping. 

The moral of the story is that the used bookstore, and really bookstores in general shouldn't be going anywhere, but on occasion,they'll be closing because there's some diehards who refuse to change, or just can't even if they wanted to.  The advantage that the internet has the physical bookstore, is most likely you're going to find what you're looking for.  With a physical bookstore, you're not always to be able to find to what you want, and that's what hurts them.  Most booksellers are getting with the times, and have an internet presense which will keep them afloat, and can double as advertising for them. 

One of the downsides of the internet is that a book can get lost in shipping.  I've seen this happen a lot working in a bookstore and I'd see kids are trying to beat their local school bookstore, and get cheap textbooks.  And then they drop extra money on having to get a book from the bookstore anyway.

Another thing I hear quite often are things about e-books.  Personally, I like having a tangible book in my hands.  For instance I have a small mystery library in my collection, what am I going to do with an e-book?  I can't read like that for long periods of time, so I personally will never buy an e-book if I can help it.  Plus, how am I supposed to impress people, if I don't have my library on display.  Students need a place to study outside the library, and nervous guys everywhere need a place to take their dates, and feign intelligence. 

Libraries and bookstores are smart and are offering both actual books and e-books.  And I think that what folks need, you gotta have that old-battered copy your favorite book, as well as that new bestseller that you want to download for that long flight.