Two sad pieces of news hit my book world today. The first was a headline I read when opening my new app this morning about Alan Rickman. He will always be Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility to me (and Prof. Snape to my daughter). His voice was just something to bask in, wasn't it? Turns out, he recorded Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native, so that will be my next audio book. And Sense and Sensibility may just be the movie of the night.
The other piece of sad news hit my email inbox regarding my local independent bookshop. They've been struggling for quite some time, and apparently the holiday sales weren't enough of a boost to keep them rolling. (Neither were all of my book purchases apparently!) It saddens me that my city of nearly a half million people is unable to support a single independent bookstore. We have a couple used book stores and two branches of Barnes & Noble, but it just isn't quite the same. Some day I'd love to live in a literary city. For now, I'm in the process of deciding which neighboring store will be my new local/mail order store.Sigh. Sad day.
He was such a great actor. I didn't know he read an audio book! You'll have to let us know how it is. That is a bummer about your local bookstore. We have several used book stores, but it's not the same. I love those crisp new books. Our Barnes and Noble is not doing well either. The state of book sales is really awful. Why, why, why are used books so cheap? Why do they not hold their value? It is beyond me. People are dumping their books and there is a glut on the market of used ones. Why buy them if you can carry around an entire bookshelf on a Kindle. (I have a Kindle, too.) But...crisp, delicious books are such a comfort.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a lot of people around here use Amazon because of the discounted prices. Our used books stores seem to do all right too. I'm hoping that Barnes and Noble hangs in there!
DeleteSorry to hear about Apostrophe! With so many students in Boston we've got quite a few independent bookstores that have stood the test of time (better than even the box stores!).
ReplyDeletegood point about the number of students - I know that there are a number of large independent book stores in Los Angeles. I'll bet the proximity of USC and UCLA have something to do with their success.
DeleteYou need to have a wealthy, famous-ish person to own your independent. Common Good Books is owned by Garrison Keillor in my neighborhood. Also, you know Ann Patchett is having some good luck with hers.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I even realized Ann Patchett had a book store. What kind of literary rock have I been living under??
Delete