Thursday, July 10, 2008

Booking Through Thursday - Doomsday


One of my favorite bookstores burned down last weekend, and while I only got to visit there while I was on vacation, it made me stop and think.

What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?
Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an online shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?


It would be a blip in my reading habits. I'd continue reading from my TBR pile, I'd visit the nearest available library, I'd buy from eBay and the next nearest bookstore, and I'd borrow from friends. Really, with the availability of books, I don't think I'd notice.

The best thing about today's question, is that it inspired me to go online and hunt for a used bookstore, and I found a good one--right in my neighborhood! I've never noticed it before, but now, I'll visit.

How would you handle this dilemma?

5 comments:

Sarah at SmallWorld said...

How exciting to find a used bookstore right in your neighborhood!

jlshall said...

Yes, I could probably continue reading from my TBR stack for several years without even noticing the absence of any bookstore!

S. Krishna said...

I feel like the internet has really revolutionized the way we answer this question - I feel like all of our answers would have been really different 10 years ago!

Anonymous said...

A very honest answer! And I too wonder how I would have answered the question 10 years ago. What keeps flashing into my mind is 'You've Got Mail,' and the little shop at the corner vs. the book mall -- or the internet.

Melody said...

I love visiting used bookstores! Sometimes, you never know what you'll find amidst those stacks of books! ;)