Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore.
Henry Ward Beecher
I can never resist going into a bookstore and buy books the way some people buy shoes. Naturally I have to buy books, given what I do. For research purposes…well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
I have to admit that I find bookstores very therapeutic places. If I’m ever in a strange town or feeling a bit out of sorts, I’ll go into one and the feeling of calm that washes over me is immediate. But, like anything in life, things are always changing and bookselling is no exception.
The demise of independent booksellers, as they struggle to compete against the chains and deal with high rents is an ongoing issue. In France a group of booksellers has even fled the high rents of Paris' literary quarter, Saint-Germain-des-Pres, to La Charite-sur-Loire just two hours away, which is now known as the city of books.
Earlier this year Borders in the USA gave us a glimpse of the future, when it unveiled its new concept store in Michigan. In the newly-created in-store digital centre, customers can download music and audiobooks onto MP3 players, create digital photo albums, learn how to self-publish and research their ancestry. Another 14 are planned.
There has even been much debate recently about whether books, as we know them, will even exist in the future given the arrival of ebook readers (Amazon’s Kindle and Sony Reader).
Personally I shudder to imagine a world without diverse bookstores, let alone printed books and with that I would like to share some of my favourite bookshops with you:
In Blackwells in Oxford lies the Norrington Room which has books on over three miles of shelving (sigh!). It gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest display of books for sale in one room anywhere in the world.
Henry Ward Beecher
I can never resist going into a bookstore and buy books the way some people buy shoes. Naturally I have to buy books, given what I do. For research purposes…well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
I have to admit that I find bookstores very therapeutic places. If I’m ever in a strange town or feeling a bit out of sorts, I’ll go into one and the feeling of calm that washes over me is immediate. But, like anything in life, things are always changing and bookselling is no exception.
The demise of independent booksellers, as they struggle to compete against the chains and deal with high rents is an ongoing issue. In France a group of booksellers has even fled the high rents of Paris' literary quarter, Saint-Germain-des-Pres, to La Charite-sur-Loire just two hours away, which is now known as the city of books.
Earlier this year Borders in the USA gave us a glimpse of the future, when it unveiled its new concept store in Michigan. In the newly-created in-store digital centre, customers can download music and audiobooks onto MP3 players, create digital photo albums, learn how to self-publish and research their ancestry. Another 14 are planned.
There has even been much debate recently about whether books, as we know them, will even exist in the future given the arrival of ebook readers (Amazon’s Kindle and Sony Reader).
Personally I shudder to imagine a world without diverse bookstores, let alone printed books and with that I would like to share some of my favourite bookshops with you:
In Blackwells in Oxford lies the Norrington Room which has books on over three miles of shelving (sigh!). It gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest display of books for sale in one room anywhere in the world.
Just two minutes from Blackwells was QI (sob!). This bookshop was located within a circular room and the books were grouped thematically under categories such as ‘Power’ or ‘Sensational Beginnings’ so that you had a mixture of genres all sharing a shelf. Too cool for words!
Barnes & Noble on Union Square in New York is a veritable Aladdin’s cave with a café and strategically placed comfy chairs. It has a great stationery department too. One could literally go to ground for days, were it not for the weekly farmers market, where I first discovered the delights of maple syrup candy!
On the Left Bank near Notre Dame in Paris, is Shakespeare & Co. Rather rambling, with a gloriously higgledy-piggledy feel to it, there is usually a sweet black cat asleep in the window. In such an atmosphere serendipity surely beckons.
I’ve spent many a lunch hour in Nomad on London’s Fulham Road. Inspired by the independent bookstores on the West Coast of America, it has wooden floors, a delightful little coffee shop, an alcove with a sofa and a downstairs travel section.
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