News:

And we're back!

Main Menu

Books and Bookstores

Started by Oexmelin, March 10, 2020, 04:19:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Do you still buy books in bookstores?

Frequently, at local independent bookstore.
4 (11.4%)
Frequently, at the outlet of a national chain (Waterstones, B&N, Indigo)
4 (11.4%)
Only infrequently, as convenience / impulse purchase / no bookstore in my area
13 (37.1%)
Overwhelmingly Amazon
13 (37.1%)
I only buy obscure titles from niche publishers because I am dark and mysterious
1 (2.9%)

Total Members Voted: 35

Oexmelin

Quote from: Tamas on March 11, 2020, 10:50:33 AM
Quote from: Syt on March 11, 2020, 08:48:59 AM
Yeah, but I might also just order from Amazon and have it delivered to where I like. :hmm:

That's far less carbon footprint than mucking about trying to keep obsolete little businesses alive, though. :P

It's far more, actually.
Que le grand cric me croque !

HVC

I haven't bought a physical copy of a book in years. I download them now. Even then my reading went way down when I started working at a printing company.
Being lazy is bad; unless you still get what you want, then it's called "patience".
Hubris must be punished. Severely.

Oexmelin

Quote from: Grey Fox on March 11, 2020, 06:24:21 AM
Quote from: Oexmelin on March 10, 2020, 09:40:37 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 10, 2020, 05:50:00 PM
I don't read many books on dead trees but when I do, I get them from ...Costco.

:ultra: :ultra:

Fabreville isn't exactly full of bookstores, independent or Renaud Bray.

Il y a un Renaud Bray juste de l'autre côté de la 440 quand tu vas au Costco...
Que le grand cric me croque !

Savonarola

Quote from: The Larch on March 10, 2020, 04:41:41 PM
I've mostly stopped buying any new books in the last few years because I eventually would be at risk of suffocation if one of the piles of them I have around the house collapsed on me.

Same, I decided to read the books I have before buying new ones (other than technical books.)  It wasn't so bad until CB and I merged our collections; now our home looks like the reading room of an eccentric museum.

For anyone who still loves the public library, check out the Libby App (not sure if it's available outside the United States).  You can browse your local libraries collection, put holds and download e-books/audiobooks for loan.

In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

Maladict

My public library is moving into the old post office next week. Definitely a reason for going, it's even on my route to work.


Josquius

I just can't make the digital book transition. The idea of paying exactly the same price but not getting the same product just sits uneasy with me. I like owning a thing.
And the bath is a top reading location.
██████
██████
██████

Tamas

Quote from: Tyr on March 11, 2020, 12:41:44 PM
exactly the same price

Checking prices - you are doing it wrong :P

crazy canuck

Quote from: Tamas on March 11, 2020, 01:20:29 PM
Quote from: Tyr on March 11, 2020, 12:41:44 PM
exactly the same price

Checking prices - you are doing it wrong :P

Either that or he found a store willing to match the digital price.

dps

Quote from: Syt on March 11, 2020, 08:48:59 AM
Yeah, but I might also just order from Amazon and have it delivered to where I like. :hmm:

I actually prefer to pick stuff up at the store if possible.  Deliverymen nowadays don't get you to sign for your order;  they just leave it laying on your front porch in the rain.

Syt

That's why I have stuff send to the office instead. Or a 24/7 postal pickup place which is 5 minutes from my place. :)
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Camerus

I switched entirely to digital back when I was a hermit moving around frequently and living overseas. I don't regret it. The Kindle has many advantages, but one of the biggest in my opinion is not only the ability to carry multiple books around with you wherever you go, but also the fact that you have a built-in-ligh25OFFt so that you can read virtually anywhere without straining your eyes or needing a lamp.

11B4V

Quote from: Camerus on March 11, 2020, 04:13:22 PM
I switched entirely to digital back when I was a hermit moving around frequently and living overseas. I don't regret it. The Kindle has many advantages, but one of the biggest in my opinion is not only the ability to carry multiple books around with you wherever you go, but also the fact that you have a built-in-ligh25OFFt so that you can read virtually anywhere without straining your eyes or needing a lamp.

:yes:
"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

viper37

Quote from: Oexmelin on March 10, 2020, 04:19:36 PM
Mostly useless poll to assuage my curiosity after reading about the B&N plan.

Whenever I am in Quebec or in France, I buy mostly from independent book stores, because they are easy to find. In the US, I unfortunately have to buy from Amazon, because campus bookstores have been transformed into B&N outlets, and are therefore useless as bookstores, operating mostly to sell college merchandise.
I read mostly in english.  My local library does not have anything in english.  It does not even have a sci-fi/fantasy section in French, except for some of the most very recent books of big franchises.  Say I wanted to buy today The Lord of the Rings in french, they don't have it.  Ordering it from them would take 4-6 weeks.  So I use Archambault.ca or Renaud-Bray.ca for my reading needs in French.  Amazon for the english stuff.  There used to be an english library in Quebec city, but it has still long disapeared.  L'Imaginaire in Place Laurier does carry a few english novels, but not much.

In as much as finance and economy are concerned, my local library does not have any real scientific books, only the most popular book of the moment which may or may not be written by a field specialist.  That'd be like reading a treatise on 17th-18th century naval warfare written by Ph. D in physics.  Could be interesting, but I'd prefer something you wrote ;)
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

viper37

Quote from: Camerus on March 11, 2020, 04:13:22 PM
I switched entirely to digital back when I was a hermit moving around frequently and living overseas. I don't regret it. The Kindle has many advantages, but one of the biggest in my opinion is not only the ability to carry multiple books around with you wherever you go, but also the fact that you have a built-in-ligh25OFFt so that you can read virtually anywhere without straining your eyes or needing a lamp.
I'm still having a problem with digital book reading.  I can not get as invested in the story than if I read it on paper.  That's really weird.  I'm used to reading news and financial information on my phone/tablet, but books?  Can't get into it.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

Sheilbh

I have emailed Gay's the Word tonight as they don't have an online store asking if I can order books for delivery - every little helps, maybe? :mellow:
Let's bomb Russia!