Osondu is another lovely independent bookstore -- and they also sell teas and wine by the glass. Like all indy bookstores, they must be feeling the competition from the on-line and big box retailers, not to mention the growing sales of digital books. And just as I was writing this, my emailed dinged with the arrival of a newsletter from Deb at Aliens and Alibis with the following quote:
"Books emanate romanticism and possess the ability to create a stronger social community. Local bookstores are breeding grounds of positivity, thought and creativity. In Austin, we can frequent BookPeople, Austin Books or Monkeywrench Books . . . to get away from the everyday stresses of life, either to sit down with the latest Grisham novel or to chill with a cup of coffee and listen to a new beat. Bookstores are artistic havens for individuals to outsource their creative energy. Digital books just can't provide this same type of community outreach, and if more people continue to replace books with convenient digital versions, small community bookstores may suffer or eventually die off."--Amanda Patterson in the Daily Texan.
The stores I visit this month and next - Malaprops' and Accent on Books in Asheville, City Lights in Sylva, Osondu in Waynesville, and Highland Books in Brevard are all such breeding grounds, such artistic havens. May we never lose them.
(No post yesterday as our server was down.)
For pictures from my garden and from Waynesville go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickilanemysteries/ASaturdayInJune
2 comments:
It would be a great tragedy if we lost our indy bookstores. My dream in life would be to have enough money to own one of my own...enough money so that I wouldn't have to worry if the place made a real profit or not. Well, we all have to have our dreams. :}
My Platonic ideal of a bookstore is in Elizabeth Goudge's THE BLUE HILLS(out of print but available from various online sellers and I do see the irony here) There's a tiny old shop with two bow windows, a garden out back, and living quarters above in a quiet cathedral town in England. In the early 1900s. Pure bliss.
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