Saw a statistic today about how rapidly brick and mortar bookstores are dwindling in numbers. I confess that overall nowadays, I prefer reading a screen to reading a page. But I would hate it if there were no bookstores. Wandering among books is such a great pleasure.
I think printed books will turn out to be like vinyl records. Simply too good to go away.
I am lucky enough to live near Once Upon a Time bookstore in Montrose, California. It is a small space crammed with a very large number of treasures and surprises – and a dangerous room to enter if you are in a hurry. For me, time stops at the threshold. More than one book on my Best-Books-Ever list came into my life during some meandering browse of Once Upon a Time shelves.
No wonder this bookstore has held on during so many economic roller coasters and is now the oldest independent children’s bookstore in the nation. Certainly the children’s book collection there is wondrous, but so are the other collections. In addition, the store provides the heart and hub for numerous book-loving groups and communities.
Needless to say, the e-book revolution has affected Once Upon A Time bookstore. Wisely, through its website, the store now sells Kobo-formatted books – and if we buy Kobo books by starting at this link, Once Upon A Time gets a cut of the sale. Kobo folks, please bookmark the link and do your shopping from it henceforth!
P.S. BTW and FYI, my novel Scar Jewelry is available from Kobo (as well as other venues).
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