Bookworm

Big excitement, and a rant

I have been so envious lately because it seems like all the other bloggers are getting to meet each other in real life. I can't believe two of my favorite bloggers, Phantom Scribbler and Mimilou, got to have a playdate. No fair! Anyway, I was bemoaning my fate and feeling all alone, when I learned that Melanie Lynn Hauser is going to be here in just a couple of weeks, promoting her new book! Hurray! I get to meet a blogger!

Melanie's been doing a very cool thing on her blog with her interviews of independent booksellers. I do like to get up on my soapbox every once in a while and rant against the big corporate bookstores. I'm still mad at Barnes & Noble for buying out the student-run cooperative book store at the University of Michigan, god, how many years ago was that? And Borders? Oh, don't get me started! Actually, I have, uh, personal reasons for boycotting Borders, even aside from its size and general corporate-ness. I'd rather get books from the library anyway. But if I have to buy a book (and I have to buy Melanie's!) I will buy it at Nicola's or Shaman Drum.

posted by Julie on 8/26/2005

11 Comments:

  • What's really sad is that since B&N has become a huge chain, their original book store on Broadway and 20th(?) has gone down-hill. You can't get the good textbooks there anymore. Sigh.

    posted by Blogger Liz Miller on 12:31 PM  

  • Sad, and ironic. Because B&N are on every college campus, driving up the price of new textbooks and making it virtually impossible to find (affordable) used ones.

    posted by Blogger Julie on 12:49 PM  

  • I love all you guys, but I'm not too sure I want to meet anyone. I love the anonymity.

    posted by Blogger Fred on 2:18 PM  

  • I worked for Big Box Bookstore for a couple of years (no, not the one you hate personally -- the other one). The one thing that I will say for them is that when their store opened in my hometown, it was the first time that people had access to anything beyond a Waldenbooks. There was no independent for BBB to close, just a lot of people who (in pre-Amazon days) had had virtually no access to anything beyond mass market mall fare. You have no idea how many times I had to explain the concept of alphabetical order to customers, because they had *no* familiarity with the way a bookstore is organized. Big Box Bookstore brought some much-needed literacy to my town.

    But if you live in a college town that once had thriving independent bookstores, Big Box Bookstore is the enemy. Definitely.

    Hey, anytime you come to Boston, you've got yourself a playdate, Julie! Just give me enough lead time so I can read a book -- any book -- first.

    posted by Blogger Phantom Scribbler on 6:15 PM  

  • I'm not sure BBB is better than nothing. Check out the American Booksellers Association website for the chilling details of the unfair trade practices by the Big Two:

    http://www.bookweb.org/news/444.html

    When you get the Big Two controlling publishers and wholesalers and dictating what gets printed and what gets promoted, we all suffer. The ABA tried to bust the trust but had to settle because it didn't have the financial resources to fight the Big Two.

    posted by Blogger Julie on 7:57 PM  

  • Julie, if you're ever in the Philadelphia area, let me know!

    posted by Blogger Suzanne on 8:24 PM  

  • Oh, I'd love to make a trip out east. Though to be quite honest, the direction I'm most interested in is southwest. New Orleans. It's been too long since we've been there and hubby and I are PINING AWAY for beignets at the Cafe du Monde and, oh, never mind. Boston and Philly, it is! :)

    posted by Blogger Julie on 8:35 PM  

  • I think I want to move to Ann Arbor- 2 independent bookstores!

    Actually, it's cheaper to buy textbooks from half.com or Amazon than the college bookstores. My girls bought all theirs that way and I sold them on Amazon once they were finished with them.

    posted by Blogger Unknown on 10:44 PM  

  • Nicola's is right around the corner from me and I try to buy all my books there or on-line at Powells. Unfortunately, I am addicted to books. And buying books. And pretty much any bookstore that looks half-decent can lure me in.

    posted by Blogger Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarian on 7:17 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    posted by Blogger Running2Ks on 11:20 PM  

  • Very cool that you get to meet. It is so fun to meet a fellow blogger! And if you are ever in Chicagoland....come on by!

    posted by Blogger Running2Ks on 11:21 PM  

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