The trouble is that, for the most part, bookstores make a selection that is market-driven, not driven by any higher purposes. To do anything else is to risk going out of business.
A small independent bookstore downtown went out of business recently and is being reconstituted as a co-op. Fundamentally, they don't have any books I want, because most of what I want to read is specialized and technical. When it comes to light reading, there's a vast "back catalog" of used books that may or may not be in print, and I'd rather pick and choose from that than buy new books. I'm particularly fond of mass market paperbacks which used to be used for serious books such as editions of Shakespeare and Issac Asimov anthologies of essays about science that are convenient to carry in a pocket or read on the bus. The new book market refuses to produce these today, giving us a choice between oversized trade paperbacks where the binding frequently cracks and overpriced hardcovers. No wonder people are flocking to e-books.
The Borders in my mall is in the process of liquidation and I'm even more turned off by the selection there. Borders has a huge stock of 'blotting paper' editions that are big books with big print designed for (horizontally) big people who live in big houses. My house isn't tiny, but I'm very sensitive to the number of cubic inches that all of my possessions take up. Sure, books are completely defeated by flash memory in that department, but I like the physical presence of books -- if they're not oversized editions for oversized Americans.
A small independent bookstore downtown went out of business recently and is being reconstituted as a co-op. Fundamentally, they don't have any books I want, because most of what I want to read is specialized and technical. When it comes to light reading, there's a vast "back catalog" of used books that may or may not be in print, and I'd rather pick and choose from that than buy new books. I'm particularly fond of mass market paperbacks which used to be used for serious books such as editions of Shakespeare and Issac Asimov anthologies of essays about science that are convenient to carry in a pocket or read on the bus. The new book market refuses to produce these today, giving us a choice between oversized trade paperbacks where the binding frequently cracks and overpriced hardcovers. No wonder people are flocking to e-books.
The Borders in my mall is in the process of liquidation and I'm even more turned off by the selection there. Borders has a huge stock of 'blotting paper' editions that are big books with big print designed for (horizontally) big people who live in big houses. My house isn't tiny, but I'm very sensitive to the number of cubic inches that all of my possessions take up. Sure, books are completely defeated by flash memory in that department, but I like the physical presence of books -- if they're not oversized editions for oversized Americans.