Anyone see this? apparently 40 bookshops have gone bust due to online book sales- not surprising really, but desperately sad. It's so much easier to click on Amazon or whoever, though, isn't it? Our local bookshop is well meaning (well, sometimes...patchy) but whenever I visit to buy a book, they never have it in stock and seem surprised by my requests- recent ones have included Catcher In The Rye, Animal Farm ('you'll find that in the children's section' I was told...er, no) and Helen Simpson's classic and award winning short story collection, Hey Yeh Right Get A Life. Not exactly an obscure bunch, are they? But the other local bookshop is a gem- original, attractive to browse in, you always find stuff you are surprised by, old classics, etc... remarkably miserable staff, but you can't have it all.

http://www.writewords.org.uk/news/887.asp

I read this, and yes, it is sad to think that those musty selling bookshops might not be around for much longer. The internet is changing everything though, from music to food shopping. I suppose if there is a quicker and easier way to find and buy something, it will naturally replace the traditional avenues.

The thing with Amazon is you can buy cheap and buy widely. You can also get hold of books you wouldn't necessarily get anywhere else, such as POD's, so one wonders whether the internet isn't more in support of publishing than the specialised independent?

JB

Exactly. And I also wonder whether the snottiness you can sometimes get in bookshops isn't part of the problem- you don't get that on Amazon, you just get...the book you want! but it is sad to think of all originality going from bookshops and that all town centres will start to look the same- except odd places like Hay etc.

In the future, our grandchildren may think it hilarious that we actually went into shops to buy anything! I think Eddie Izzard said something similar about mobile phones, how kids thought it funny you would phone a building to see if someone was in it, rather than the person directly.

I love browsing in bookshops, but often find the same thing you have - they just don't have the range of books to keep me there for hours, and if I have to order something, I'll go up the Amazon.

JB