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The demise of the second-hand bookshop

thecritic.co.uk

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Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#111

Post by grugagag »

toyg wrote: post #81
TomSwirly wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like all the things I cared about, it is going. I'm starting to lose interest in the world.

That's what growing old looks like, friend. The world we knew is going away, to be replaced by a new world for new people who care about different things. I'm sure people who genuinely loved tending to mules and horses "lost interest" when regular folks started using trains and cars to travel. It's just how it is - humanity goes forth, as it will.

But that is only partially true. People socialize a lot less than they used to, things changed in a fundamental way. If you look around in NYC 50% of storefronts are empty and unoccupied. There are multiple reasons for the latter but it still is a fundamental change. Maybe the virtual world is thriving in some hot pockets but the analog world is becoming less welcoming to many of us.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#112

Post by grugagag »

biophysboy wrote: post #23

One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…

This is one of the reason I like used bookstores and thriftshops. I like having a good surprise from time to time and find something totally unexpected. Buying used is also good for the environment

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#113

Post by ponker »

derbOac wrote: post #82
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I can get any book I want, including long out-of-print books. I remember years looking for a copy of Clarke's "The Deep Range". Now getting a copy is as trivial as pushing a button. And I have indulged myself, acquiring a small mountain of books :-) I also browse the books at thrift stores. It's how I've obtained a ton of strange books I never would have discovered otherwise. For example, I found a…

I think part of OPs point is that you think you can get a copy of any book. I don't mean to sound snarky at all; it's just that you know what you see online now, which is not all that is offline. You don't miss what you don't know. My experience is of numerous out of print books that might have had small publishers in small editions. Even an unusual edition of an well known book can be unique in various valuable ways…

It’s not even just books that don’t exist online... it’s books that you never hear of because you don’t bump into them in a bookstore. The books you learn about online are selected by mechanisms very different to those that you learn about in a used bookstore.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#114

Post by 618033988749894 »

jb775 wrote: post #30

I actually really appreciate second-hand books. It sounds weird, but it makes it feel like there's more life to a book knowing others have read that exact copy. I also find it interesting and often helpful reading notes or underlined/highlighted parts of the book. I recently purchased a few books from thriftbooks.com and noticed they shipped from different locations....I'm not sure if they're run as a marketplace whe…

I was once browsing Asimov titles in a used bookstore. I had read his nonfiction but none of his fiction. Out of curiosity I picked up a copy of The Gods Themselves, and tucked between the pages I found a folded-up copy of his obituary torn out of the New York Times. I bought the book for the obituary and as a bonus I loved the reading the book.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#115

Post by grugagag »

dehrmann wrote: post #108

In the late-90's, early 2000's, my high school weekend job was doing computer work for a local bookstore starting to sell online. On the tech side, it was interesting to see online marketplaces taking off, how ordinary people use computers, the sorry state of single-purpose software meant for a small group of paying customers. I also got to learn a lot about books, which ones are more likely to be valuable, which one…

It is true, a lot or collectible items lost most of their uniqness derived value when vast amounts filled the inventory of digital stores and demand for them proved much lower than expected

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#116

Post by grugagag »

ghaff wrote: post #17

Browsing a used bookstore (or any other bookstore) when I have some time to kill is still fun. [And my local library has a booksale every year.] But with the exception of maybe looking through cookbooks or art books or something like that, it's not really how I buy or even browse books any longer. In the "bad old days" when new books were mostly sold at list price and there really wan't a whole lot of independent inf…

I believe you’ve stopped doing that but the experience was more fun. Now you have search and recommendations and it’s definitely a better value, book reviews can give a good hint if a book is crap or not what you expect before you buy it.

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#117

Post by grugagag »

GnarfGnarf wrote: post #103

This phenomenon is pre-Internet. There were many great used bookstores in New York in the 70' and 80's. I went back twenty years later and most had disappeared. I think it's a function of a certain kind of person that wants to be independent, doing something they love. Those mavericks are gone.

In the early 2000s there were still a lot of great used bookstores in New York. Being younger I could not compare to the 70s or 80s but could see the shocking transformation in the last 20 years. Too many shops closed only to remain empty storefronts

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#118

Post by [deleted] »

chmaynard wrote: post #74

Many used bookshops are managed by people who could never run a successful business. They love what they do but are not particularly good at it. These shops probably deserve to fade away. I purchase used books frequently. I almost always find what I want on Amazon, usually from multiple booksellers, and I have the book within a week. It's hard to compete with that level of service.

[deleted]

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#119

Post by irrational »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104
smoe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, the most magical thing about the small local bookstores is the people working there. Just getting into one, chatting with people genuinely and deeply passionate about what it is that they are selling. Having a coffee, talking about a book I read, what aspects I liked, philosophizing about the topic in general and getting recommendations what to read next based on that has beaten at least 10x any 'modern' and…

This aspect still exits in some areas. Local bike stores are still running and have the same community feel. They are perhaps only around today because people who ride bikes a lot tend to not be the people who want to drive 20km to the nearest mega store.

Why are people creating a community at the local bike shop? I ride my bike to work everyday (or did). But I only went to the local bike shop to purchase a new bike about every five years and went in for parts a few times a year. What in the world are people doing that they are going there so frequently that a community can be built up?

Re: The demise of the second-hand bookshop

#120

Post by grugagag »

jamiek88 wrote: post #94

Anyone else find used books gross ? I wonder if it’s just a quirk/phobia of mine? Library books gross me out too. How many page turns between butt wipes?! How many picked noses leaving through? I never used to be bothered as a kid but this feeling has grown over the years culminating in a general ickiness. The number one benefit of ebooks to me was that I could get old/cheap books that hadn’t, indeed, couldn't be han…

It depends on each item. The yellowing or dusty ones I avoid. Also I disinfect the books when I get home. A lot of books are still very ‘virgin’
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