Reviews of independent bookstores because buying and reading books is an adventure
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2008.
We’ve added a new page on the blog – Unique. Independent bookstores are having a hard time competing with Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon, but they’re not going down without a fight. The Unique page lists the things booksellers are doing to keep customers and provide special services and experiences. The Unique tag will list our posts that discuss stores with unusual attributes. Check it out.
I wondered as I visited Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz how a city of 55,000 supported two independent bookstores within four blocks of each other with a Borders plopped in between them — almost a bookstore for each block of this quaint street. It’s easier to understand once you visit them, Bookshop Santa Cruz and Logos Books and Records have distinct personalities and Borders, well, is Borders, I didn’t need any magazines so I didn’t stop there. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: book club, California, California bookstore, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz bookstore, unique, used books
I know, I know, it’s Canada, not Canadia, but on our recent trip there, my teenage son told a funny story about a girl in his class who really thought it WAS “Canadia” because “Canadians live there,” and from then on we referred to the country we were visiting as “Canadia,” until my younger kids appeared to have forgotten the correct pronunciation — which will come back to haunt us one day on some social studies test or another.
While in Canada, we did visit a few bookstores, although I have to admit that we never really had the time or frame of mind to explore any one of them in depth. And I stupidly didn’t take notes or photos (we didn’t have a real camera with us, having lost two, count ‘em two, over the course of the summer. One turned up. The one that belonged to me didn’t.), so forgive the sketchy nature of this blog entry. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Canada, Canada bookstore, Halifax, Halifax bookstore, Montreal, Montreal bookstore, Quebec City, Quebec City bookstore
Okay, I’ll admit it up front, you don’t usually associate Labor Day with reading. The Christmas season conjures up good books thanks to Charles Dickens and the subsequent plays for the sentiment of the season by untold authors. But, I’ve read some fantastic books that deal with labor issues and their effect on American life. Plus, I love celebrating holidays and while I’ll be having a wonderful time at a BBQ tomorrow afternoon, I think the best way of enriching any experience is through reading, so here are my two choices: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: recommended reading
Claire
Kim
