Another beautiful, hypnotic stop-motion video:
I'm a huge fan of good bookshops. Waterstone's is showing signs of improvement, but there are some wonderful independents out there: Burway Books in Church Stretton, Webberley's in Stoke and The Book Barge on the canal (if only it was in the same place as the Cheese Boat for a day). Support them while they're still there: they carry more interesting stock, they're friendlier and they tend not to take bribes from publishers to put books on the Bestseller shelf or in the window.
Showing posts with label bookshops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookshops. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Friday, 30 September 2011
The bookseller's lament
I don't often go to the bookshop in The Dark Place. They keep calling me 'buddy' without any reasonable grounds or permission (I'm not a decking retriever), try to sell me discounted books which bear no resemblance to the ones I've purchased, and gawp blankly when I ask for anything which isn't on '3 for 2'.
If there was a decent bookshop here, I'd go there, or mourn its loss. Few things are more pleasurable than browsing books or vinyl. Here's a list of bookseller's complaints from a big American chain: click on it to enlarge.
If there was a decent bookshop here, I'd go there, or mourn its loss. Few things are more pleasurable than browsing books or vinyl. Here's a list of bookseller's complaints from a big American chain: click on it to enlarge.
BTW: if you can be separated from your money in a good cause (preventing teenage homophobia) by purchasing a calendar featuring naked male librarian beefcake, you should probably go here.
Friday, 29 July 2011
I'd move to New York for this
What a place. What a man. Mind you, the interior is a tidier version of my friend Mark's house.
I haven't yet found the Book Barge, which apparently is based in Staffordshire, but I will. I've been to the Cheese Boat, and it's a concept which should be encouraged. If you live near the boat and order a book, they'll deliver it by dinghy or bike.
I miss proper bookshops. There's one near the park in The Dark Place. It's like the final resting place of unwanted books, good and bad. 1950s home-brewing guides, feet of Monica Dickens and Jeffrey Farnol, battered Penguin Specials and all sorts of tat. I used to go there a lot, but when they realised that I was slowly buying their stock of Left Book Club editions, they tripled the price, which I thought was mean, especially as their previous prices was still expressed in £.s.d., suggesting that demand was minimal.
Where else do I like? Reader's World in Birmingham. Cramped, chaotic, dusty, cheap. It used to have added 'atmosphere' provided by the used porn room at the back, but that's largely gone. Furtive men would scurry past me as I browsed the pulp SF or old university textbooks, not meeting anyone's eyes.
There's a great shop in Littleborough, outside Manchester. It's George Kelsall's. They're very friendly and informed, and have a massive stock of books in a rambling building. Last time I was there, they let me have the run - unsupervised - of areas they don't normally let the public into. Sun streamed through onto aged wood, a clock ticked and time slid past.
And of course Webberley's in Stoke. Amidst the ruination brought about by Thatcherite economics, neglect, cynical architects and corruption, Webberley's stands proud and independent: a massive, hugely-stocked general books and art materials shop towering over Waterstone's. I've bought critical theory books there more cheaply than at certain online behemoths. It's been there since 1913 - long may it last. They also sell online.
More amazing and weird bookshops here (with thanks to Ewar).
I haven't yet found the Book Barge, which apparently is based in Staffordshire, but I will. I've been to the Cheese Boat, and it's a concept which should be encouraged. If you live near the boat and order a book, they'll deliver it by dinghy or bike.
I miss proper bookshops. There's one near the park in The Dark Place. It's like the final resting place of unwanted books, good and bad. 1950s home-brewing guides, feet of Monica Dickens and Jeffrey Farnol, battered Penguin Specials and all sorts of tat. I used to go there a lot, but when they realised that I was slowly buying their stock of Left Book Club editions, they tripled the price, which I thought was mean, especially as their previous prices was still expressed in £.s.d., suggesting that demand was minimal.
Where else do I like? Reader's World in Birmingham. Cramped, chaotic, dusty, cheap. It used to have added 'atmosphere' provided by the used porn room at the back, but that's largely gone. Furtive men would scurry past me as I browsed the pulp SF or old university textbooks, not meeting anyone's eyes.
There's a great shop in Littleborough, outside Manchester. It's George Kelsall's. They're very friendly and informed, and have a massive stock of books in a rambling building. Last time I was there, they let me have the run - unsupervised - of areas they don't normally let the public into. Sun streamed through onto aged wood, a clock ticked and time slid past.
And of course Webberley's in Stoke. Amidst the ruination brought about by Thatcherite economics, neglect, cynical architects and corruption, Webberley's stands proud and independent: a massive, hugely-stocked general books and art materials shop towering over Waterstone's. I've bought critical theory books there more cheaply than at certain online behemoths. It's been there since 1913 - long may it last. They also sell online.
More amazing and weird bookshops here (with thanks to Ewar).
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