I used to get lost for hours in used bookstores, but it's been ages since I've found a good one. (I did a search on bookstores in our neighborhood a while back and, with the exception of the quintessentially homogenized Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores, the only thing I could find were Christian bookstores.) I think Acres of Books is still around (at least, they've still got a website), but outside of that, the few used bookstores I've found lately have been small, cramped and not terribly inviting.
My other problem in finding a good used book store is that my favorite genre is Science Fiction. SF, sometimes, seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of literature. ("Rodney Dangerfield of" apparently my favorite analogy of the month). Acres of Books has an SF section, but it's buried in the back warehouse, in a corner with no lights. Finding ANYTHING there is an accomplishment (and probably explains why I haven't been by recently to find out if they're still there).
So while we were in Seattle over Christmas, we ended up hitting a couple of really great book stores (Elliot Bay Book Co. and Half Price Books). These were great discoveries and I thoroughly enjoyed browsing these place, but in the end I found myself depressed that I couldn't even imagine finding a book store like these in LA. (A quick look at the Store Locator link for Half Price Books shows all their California locations in Northern CA.)
Elliot Bay was, by far, the more impressive of the two… a large, airy place with dozens of people browsing the books, shopping, or having coffee while thumbing through one of the 'lending library' books available for patrons of the onsite coffee shop. It was a destination location where you could spend hours and come away with books you'd never have found otherwise. In contrast to Acres of Books "back room" SF section, both Elliot Bay and Half Price had large sections of SF books, both new and used, and dozens that I'd never heard of.
But this was Seattle, where people apparently still read. (As they also do in Oregon, according to a friend of mine who's told me, with evident glee, about the joys of shopping at Powell's Books.)
Things are just not like that here in Southern California. Nor, apparently, elsewhere in the country:
Hell, I'm guilty of this, to some extent, myself. I still read for pleasure and have often described myself as a voracious reader, finding myself reading the back of cereal boxes and product labels when stuck without viable reading materials. But I've noticed that, in the past few years, I'm reading much less than I used to, and have recently had to curtail my book buying, as I realize that the shelf space I'd allocated for unread books in my office has expanded to two full shelves and I have no idea when I'm going to find the time to get to any of these books. Blame it on too much work, the Internet, Netflix, Heroes, summer movie season and computer games, but suddenly my book reading time is getting more and more compressed to where there are weeks I find that the only time I've got for leisure reading is in the few moments I'm conscious before falling asleep at night.
So I see where this guy's coming from. Reading is a leisure pastime in decline, and it must be galling and infuriating to watch it from behind the counter of the book store you've owned and run for years. There's a part of me that wants to applaud this guy for finding a way to make his statement loud enough to get the attention of CNN.
There's another part of me that finds it all too depressing and is disgusted at the thought of book burning for any reason. I'm not sure which side of me is winning the debate. But I only hope that someone comes along and rescues the rarities that must be hidden away in his 20,000 books before he gets to the end of the pile.
My other problem in finding a good used book store is that my favorite genre is Science Fiction. SF, sometimes, seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of literature. ("Rodney Dangerfield of" apparently my favorite analogy of the month). Acres of Books has an SF section, but it's buried in the back warehouse, in a corner with no lights. Finding ANYTHING there is an accomplishment (and probably explains why I haven't been by recently to find out if they're still there).
So while we were in Seattle over Christmas, we ended up hitting a couple of really great book stores (Elliot Bay Book Co. and Half Price Books). These were great discoveries and I thoroughly enjoyed browsing these place, but in the end I found myself depressed that I couldn't even imagine finding a book store like these in LA. (A quick look at the Store Locator link for Half Price Books shows all their California locations in Northern CA.)
Elliot Bay was, by far, the more impressive of the two… a large, airy place with dozens of people browsing the books, shopping, or having coffee while thumbing through one of the 'lending library' books available for patrons of the onsite coffee shop. It was a destination location where you could spend hours and come away with books you'd never have found otherwise. In contrast to Acres of Books "back room" SF section, both Elliot Bay and Half Price had large sections of SF books, both new and used, and dozens that I'd never heard of.
But this was Seattle, where people apparently still read. (As they also do in Oregon, according to a friend of mine who's told me, with evident glee, about the joys of shopping at Powell's Books.)
Things are just not like that here in Southern California. Nor, apparently, elsewhere in the country:
Unwanted books go up in flamesI, sadly, wasn't terribly surprised when I read the guy's reasons for his actions. (The lack of interest in books in general and his declining customer base led him to this protest.) I've lost count of the times I've heard seemingly well-educated, articulate people say, with apparent pride "Oh, I haven't read a book in years." According to the article, a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that less than half the people responding to the survey read for pleasure(and you've gotta figure a survey by the National Endowment of the Arts is going to attract literate people, right?).
Hell, I'm guilty of this, to some extent, myself. I still read for pleasure and have often described myself as a voracious reader, finding myself reading the back of cereal boxes and product labels when stuck without viable reading materials. But I've noticed that, in the past few years, I'm reading much less than I used to, and have recently had to curtail my book buying, as I realize that the shelf space I'd allocated for unread books in my office has expanded to two full shelves and I have no idea when I'm going to find the time to get to any of these books. Blame it on too much work, the Internet, Netflix, Heroes, summer movie season and computer games, but suddenly my book reading time is getting more and more compressed to where there are weeks I find that the only time I've got for leisure reading is in the few moments I'm conscious before falling asleep at night.
So I see where this guy's coming from. Reading is a leisure pastime in decline, and it must be galling and infuriating to watch it from behind the counter of the book store you've owned and run for years. There's a part of me that wants to applaud this guy for finding a way to make his statement loud enough to get the attention of CNN.
There's another part of me that finds it all too depressing and is disgusted at the thought of book burning for any reason. I'm not sure which side of me is winning the debate. But I only hope that someone comes along and rescues the rarities that must be hidden away in his 20,000 books before he gets to the end of the pile.
Comments
That said, this IS the 21st century, and I can proudly say I haven't READ a book in years! I LISTEN to them. MP3 files or CD's (primarily MP3 on my player). There are thousands of unabridged books on audio. My recent favorites being 1776 and John Adams by David Mcullogh, Spook Country by William Gibson, and Manhunt by James Swanson.
I'm surprised book stores and readers haven't embraced this format more. It fits in with the busier lifestyle we all lead.
I have Harry Potter reserved...
Q
I'm getting more into MP3 listening myself, especially on my iPod. I've been late getting to audio books for a couple of reasons... the CD versions are always significantly more expensive than the paper versions, so I've REALLY gotta want it to buy the CD (and I just found places like Audible in the past year or so). And listening to audio books in my car can be a pain, sometimes, since changing CDs means you've got to browse through the chapters to find your place. The "bookmarking" on iPods works fairly well, so it makes it much easier to "listen to a good book".