In Praise of Good Bookstores by Jeff Deutsch
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Like what I do? Feel free to buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/leaf...
Get book - www.indiebound...
Hardcover, 216 pages
Published 2022 by Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691207766
#leafbyleaf #bookreview #jeffdeutsch #semcoop
I hear you!
When I was a kid, I used to walk to the local library, which was about a mile away from my house, and because I could only borrow two books at a time, I would go there twice a week. I soon started borrowing books under other people's names 😄 . The librarian didn't take long to catch up, and after she quizzed me and was satisfied that I actually read these books, I was granted an exception, and was allowed to borrow 6 books at a time... I would start reading those on my way home, and somehow never got run over by a car or hit a post 🤣fun memories. 🤣
This is one of the most enjoyable comments I've read! I love memories like these!
"When we shop online it's easy to find what we want, when it comes to books, it's not enough to get what you already know you wanted. The best things are the things you never knew you wanted" - Mark Forsyth "The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Want"
Love this! Thanks for the recommendation!
One of my favorite bookstores would be Mutiny Radio in Denver- a large selection with open areas for poetry/standup/events in the back (through books/pinball machines) as well as quiet cafe serving coffees and snacks in the front.
Hope to get out to Denver some day.
For many years I ran a summer book fair at my Unitarian church. For months volunteers would sort through thousands of volumes in preparation for the big day. Sorting was an arduous delight. The good, the bad and the ugly passed through our hands. We all experienced sweat and laughter among the sneezes. The big day would come and dozens would help bring out hundreds of boxes from the basement to tables set up and labeled fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, collectors’ corner etc. When the church bell rang, the customers would swarm in, with boxes in hand to paw over the volumes. A full summer of reading at the beach was snapped up in a moment. The occasional tussle over a book would be met with a reminder from the volunteers, “ Friends, this is a church fundraiser!” The day would wear on. The piles would diminish. At three in the afternoon, we put out the “buck a box” signs, and for thirty minutes, renewed interest would be sparked. Then everything would go still around 4, and we closed up. We would sell about half our offerings. The remainders were boxed and sent on to another church for their book or rummage sales. We would make a few thousand dollars at best. Then the book fair volunteers got old. Most of them are dead now. But we loved each other and what we did for the church and community, all for the love of summer reading.
Love videos like these that advocate for a more slowed-down, contemplative, anti-competition, anti-capitalism lifestyle that's all about engaging with good art. Keep 'em coming!
Yes, exactly. And I feel I'll be tending more and more in the direction of patient, slow, meditative, and considerate reading.
I loved everything about this Chris, thank you, it's helping me think of my own reading and collection differently. I live in a rural area, and our only indie bookstore had to shut down during Covid. Even though they had an online presence, apparently not enough were using it. We lost wonderful booksellers who also loved reading, read widely enough to offer tailored suggestions. I miss that so much.
Now B&N is the only store in driving distance, so I browse there occasionally but buy from Bookshop, which is a great service to help support other indies. Feel free to recommend stores you think might need it. Another point, for audiobooks, people can support indies using Libro, rather than Audible. And I love my Kobo for ebooks, which can also be sold through indies. I wish these options were more widely known.
Thanks so much for adding this insightful information, Elizabeth!
Thank you ❤
My pleasure!
Such an excellent video. I just ordered the book from my indie bookstore just down the street.
I actually did order earlier in the week other titles from Amazon. One thing I’ve noted that is problematic is on all the indie bookstore websites or stock lists, the title I wanted was on backorder for 12+ weeks. Amazon had stock. More than the variety or the price differential, it appears they may be dominating inventory.
It's a sad state of affairs, but, yes, Mammon tends to win in the market. Cheers for at least trying!
I worked at Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn for a decade. By far my favorite job ever, and on days off I often browsed other bookstores, especially The Strand and Saint Marks Books. I will never order from Amazon. Great episode, Chris!
I've had the pleasure of perusing and purchasing from Saint Marks, but I've yet to get to The Strand. I've also been to Argosy. My next NYC trip, I'll make things right!
Sadly, Saint Marks closed permanently in 2016, for reasons you cover in this episode.
😔
I couldn't agree more!
Hear! Hear!
What a cool book! I’ve missed so many of your videos but glad to be back on this one!
Don’t worry-I’m not taking attendance. Glad to hear from you!
i've lived for a decade in a country where Amazon shipping fees are ridiculously high, so once a month i would enter a local bookshop where once or twice a year i would discover an author i'd never heard of who would take my life to unpredictable places.
If declaring holy war against The Algorithm may sound rather ruinous, i can still try my best to ignore It. So far so good.
Thanks for the heartwarming video.
This is exactly the type of beautiful culture that we're leaving behind --> "so once a month i would enter a local bookshop"
How much more we would appreciate things if we didn't give in to the exploitations of the human tendency for immediacy and convenience.
🙌
Woot woot!
Amazon is able to do what it did to bookstores because of how convenient it is. Desire for convenience is going to be what kills stores of all types.
You're quite right. Amazon exploits two of humanity's weaknesses: immediacy and convenience. Alas. It takes real effort to overcome the exploitation of these weaknesses in our technocratic culture.
I should perhaps not admit that this video caused me to order one of the books mentioned from Amazon.
I'll let you go with a firm warning. :)
we in the bay area are lucky to have a number of great bookstores, new and used. maybe 10 across SF, oakland, berkeley that I frequent. Bird & Becket is a great one in sf.
I had the pleasure of visiting City Lights a few weeks back!
In my defense, in Brazil Amazon is basically the only option for imported books. But I do try to support bookstores whenever I’m in the US, and when I buy Brazilian books I purchase them at bookstores. They are very expensive though. And no you are not going to make me be selective of what I read lol.
Yes, it’s unfortunate but I’ve heard this from many friends outside the States, including a handful of Brazilians I work with (they’re in Curitiba). Hey-in the end, at least we’re keeping reading alive! As for being selective-I should have clarified that there are different modes of a reader’s life, and one such one such mode is reading far and wide and whatever you fancy. I pass no judgment on this. Read what you want! 🙌😁
Now, get the French version: A NOVEL BOOKSTORE by Laurence Cossé
Ooooooo, merci beaucoup !
@@LeafbyLeaf de rien, mon ami
Love this! My local indi-book store owner calls Amazon "The Evil A" lol. Thank you for this video. If my local bookstore doesn't have a book I'm looking for, they order it and I actually wait for it. Makes the pickup and then reading more special. You mentioned a common place book... Would love to see a video from you on your process with that!
I totally agree: waiting a little longer is, more and more, becoming a lost art. The delayed gratification can make the book all the more precious. As for my commonplace book, the process is pretty simple: Every time I finish a book, I look through all of my highlights and copy out the best of the lot in the commonplace book. From time to time, I soft through the CPB to revisit the cream of my reading. :)
Powells in Portland Oregon
On my pilgrimage list!
I generally buy used books from websites like Wob in the UK but I often check on eBay for more interesting editions before buying as it adds to my enjoyment of the book. I just finished reading a 1963 paperback of Moby Dick last week, it cost me around £9 instead of getting a modern edition for around £3.
You know--I forgot to mention used books in the video. I was only thinking in terms of venturing out to bookstores to peruse new ones. But I, too, buy a fair amount of used/out of print/rare books, and websites make it much easier. Of course, you could have your local bookseller do it on your behalf, but that's a bit tedious. Plus, most booksellers aren't going to charge any extra, so they don't really get anything out of it. Like you said, too, it's fun to use the Internet to look at different editions and so on. Plenty to be said for the used book trade that stands apart from the arguments here.
Great move, Chris. I wish there was another cause fighting for the royalties paid to the authors...
Hear! Hear!
I’m somebody who cleans out my local thrift stores on a regular basis
I, too, routinely utilize the offerings of the secondhand market!
I hate to bring politics into this, but nothing makes me want to turn around and leave a local bookstore than conspicuous ideological marketing. The famous Strand bookstore of NYC in particular used to drive me crazy with the in-your-face and excessive center-room stacks of books dedicated to an ideology or political movement with walls adorned with BLM and LGBTQ+ merchandise. It's like going to a library and the librarians immediately recommend you a manifesto without a word spoken. Political product placement is a ubiquitous affair; an analog being "the thin blue line" and right-wing paraphernalia at your local gun stores.
In my years living in New York, I found myself preferring the local Barnes & Nobles outlets than the local brick-and-mortars.
I don't know, maybe its just a function of marketing to target markets. Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of it and I shouldn't expect the temple and library to be the same thing.
Ha, ha, couldn't agree more! I was in a local bookstore last weekend, and here's what I saw: books about both Obamas, books about both Clintons, books about Biden. The only book by a Republican was by RINO Liz Cheney. I felt like asking the owners where the books by Trump and Rush Limbaugh were, but I didn't bother. I did buy over $100 worth of books there, but won't bother returning.
On another note, the video mentions that Amazon may make one decide he/she won't pay $35 for a hardcover, but perhaps feel only half of that is justified. To which I say, the publishing industry has had us book lovers over a barrel for so long that this is their comeuppance! $35 for a mass-market hardcover is as absurdly inflated as paying $500 for a ticket to see some pop star in a concert - it's meaningless and market-driven, and they'll charge it if you/me/us are dumb enough to pay it. I've been a bibliophile for over 50 years and own thousands of books. I've rarely paid full price, and it's only the for the exceptional, or rare, book that I will. You have to shop smart or you're just subsidizing an industry, which as this thread started with, may have and push views diametrically opposed to your own. (BTW - gun stores are not the best analogy - books can be/are loved by people on both sides of the political spectrum, while gun people are almost always right of center - at least pre-pandemic.)
It's quite unfortunate that I can only get books from Amazon, I live in an Indian small town where the bookstores only cater to school children and books for various exams. Hell, I can't even get books which are in my own language, Marathi, can only get them from Amazon. There is one small library here and it doesn't allow you to borrow lol
Wowowow! You present a rather particular and peculiar--and unfortunate!--case here. What a catch-22. Yeah, for you, I don't think there's really any other way. So, in the end, you have to be thankful for Amazon.
Hello there! Love your channel. Made me fall in love with reading all over again. Right now I'm working through Ulysses (Modern Library), the collected fictions of Jorge Luis Borges (Penguin), and the complete fictions of Edgar Allen Poe (Modern Library). School has kept me from fully finding time to read but I'm trying to sneak some in there. I was curious, since you mentioned that you used to read a ton of Stephen King, have you heard of Peter Straub? The reason I'm asking is because he'd recently passed away this year and co-wrote two books with King himself. Have you read anything from him? Anyway, keep up the good work and keep up with the recommendations. Also support your favorite bookstores.
Hey there! So thrilled to hear that channel helps fuel your reading! I actually never did read anything from Straub, which is really surprising.
I like receiving a book in only 2 days from Amazon (considering I only have 1 bookstore near me) but far too often do I receive 'new' books that are actually in 'acceptable' condition due to poor packaging. Thriftbooks will actually put new books in a box to avoid this. But I encourage anyone to buy from a physical location if they can.
Yeah, I also need to use less amazon for books if I can finally overcome my inner Schweinehund😅 I quite often read books in english but most of the books in local bookstores here are in german and even when it comes to ordering they are very limited with english books. I also like to read books (which are not written in german) as kindle for the instant dictionary. Amazon is very comfortable for me in that way but I try to keep my eyes open for good alternatives.
I just mentioned this in a comment, but I use Bookshop for paper copies, which will buy from local stores you specify, and will have a wide selection. And I love my Kobo, which gets books from whichever local bookstore you choose, and is just as good as Kindle!
@@Elizabeth-Reads Thanks for the suggestions, Elizabeth! Bookshop doesn't seem to be available in Germany but Kobo looks promising. I'll look more into it, thanks :)
Yes, I definitely understand that, for some people, there are going to be limitations. At the very least, just make sure you feel bad when you use Amazon. LOL!
@@LeafbyLeaf I'm one step ahead of you! I always feel a bit bad when I use any product of the big tech companies😅
🙌😝
Sad that in a city of 343,000 my closest independent seller of new books is 22 miles away. Actually there is one Catholic bookstore which could have a few interesting selections, but their website suggests they prioritize "Sock Religious" over actual books, though that might be a typo (the link loops back to the same page showing what might be their most overstocked books).
Yes, you bring up a good point--a few of them, actually--that I wish I'd mentioned in the video. For some people, utilizing a local independent bookstore is just unfeasible. Either it's too far away or literally too expensive for the budget or they don't carry what you like. Most booksellers will be happy to order any book available and sell it to you, but this puts the onus on you to know what you want before you even browse the story, so the argument for expert booksellers is sort of faulty. As for the long drive, this could be turned into a fun routine excursion. And, if the frequency stays low, it would make browsing bookstores that much sweeter. --Still, I'm a practical man; sometimes it's just not going to work out.
At corona\samizdat we don't consider ourselves as experts, nor even discerning in particular, rather an avenue for writers to become potentially chosen by experts as books worth reading. I agree with all you say in the video, but there is a gap--how do writers become authors. The process is more difficult than ever. Just one key example of how we can help a writer--how any publisher/press can--is just to keep a writer in print. Jeff Bursey's Unidentified man at left of photo has been selling very slowly for over two years, but even recently a few readers had found it and enthused over it.
So the battle to keep literature alive involves the same passionate book people to refuse exhaustion and continue finding ways to persist despite absurd odds and malicious arts environment maldevelopments.
Solid points, indeed. The scope of the book reviewed in this video is restricted to booksellers/independent bookstores. But-as you say-without authors and publishers, the bookseller has nothing to sell! And, to my mind, the vast majority of the worthwhile books are not being published by the big houses. So, for now, it’s the indie presses (like yourself) and the curious readers (like myself) who have a major responsibility to keep great literature circulating.
@@LeafbyLeaf All great points! But big houses definitely still publish worthwhile books (The Overstory, Stephen Markley's Ohio, Karen Russell, etc.)!
Can’t dispute that at all-I don’t mean to make definitive statements to the effect that they don’t.
Morning and once again another video bringing me satisfactory such a cognitive video get to add some superb books to my Wishlist edit: are you interested in theology? If so have you done any videos on any book about theology? And if not will you ever do a review on books about theology?
Hey there! Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, I have been reading theology for over 20 years. Recent favorites include books by David Bentley Hart, Alvin Plantinga, and Michael Heiser. I also thoroughly enjoy C. S. Lewis. I have yet to do any theology videos or videos on books of theology, but I have been planning another channel that I will dedicate to the Bible and books about the Bible.
gm fam
Good morning!
Wait but who pays 100$ for the movies hahaha altho tbf I did pay close to that at Alamo Drafthouse yesterday with my girlfriend because of the overpriced food.
Hahahah! Yeah, that was a bit of rhetorical hyperbole. In my opinion, for what it’s worth, dinner out with your girlfriend is even more important than books. 😉
Yes, yes...So pleased you will, from now on, ditch your association with Amazon. Far too many 'booktube' channels freely admit buying from Amazon isn't ethical nor conductive to giving writers value yet shrug that consideration off easily. I never buy books from Amazon and never intend to besides which we need magical places to pause when browsing books. Can I add another title to this subject? 16 international authors' make a call to arms to cherish brick bookshops at all costs in "Browse" compiled by Henry Hitchings. Your idea of forging links with your neighbourhood bookshop sounds exceedingly exciting and innovative. Can hardly wait.
Thanks so much for the recommendation! :)
Speaking of Howl, I wonder why the literati and other cultural gatekeepers give Allen Ginsberg a pass on being a NAMBLA member. I would never buy any of his books.
To be completely honest, I'd never even heard of NAMBLA.
You can enjoy reading Howl and many other works by Ginsberg without supporting nambla. It's important to differentiate between author and his work whenever that is possible. In fact, I've read couple of writers who vote for republicans and don't support abortion rights, which is as bad as nambla, yet I still gave them a chance.
You pay $100 to go see a movie?
I might have been using a touch of hyperbole. 😁
@@LeafbyLeaf That’s a relief. I’ve heard of prices being higher in big cities, but that was genuinely concerning, lol.
Lol - for the record, I would never pay such a sum at the cinema.
This stirs up so much in me. In no particular order: I agree 100% about Amazon. I never buy books from them. But how do you feel about second hand book shops (generally online)? You mentioned libraries - how do they fit into the new business model for sustainable serious book shops? Your (the author’s) discussion of the potential for browsing to point you to places unknown - that blew me away. In that regard, I’m, I would have to say haunted by poor choices past. Books I picked up in a bookstore or on an impulse that really fizzled when I brought them home and actually started to read them. They sit on my shelves as accusations and cautionary tales! These days, I tend to be strongly influenced by 2 or 3 book channels, like yours, that I follow. Or I take books from the library and after reading them, consider buying a copy. By the way, if you ever decide to put up links on your channel for great indie bookshops, here’s mine in NYC: Three Lives & Company. www.threelives.com/. Thanks for another stimulating discussion. I’m going to get a copy of the book today (from the library and will probably buy from Three Lives).
You’ve really opened up the conversation here! There are so many facets of the book world that need to be covered. This video (and the book) is mostly restricted to buying new books in a physical bookstore. But secondhand books is another business altogether and I am massively thankful for it! I’d say I definitely buy much much more used books than new. The best bookstores, in my opinion, have new and used books. The used section of where there should be a circulation of all the greatest lesser-marketed gems and it is usually the focal point of conversation and relationship-building between knowledgeable booksellers and demanding readers. Thanks for the link to your favorite NYC indie. I’ve visited Argosy and Saint Mark’s (long ago), but I want to get to The Strand and others next time I’m up there, maybe next year. Happy reading!