# Anyone ever go into an actual bookstore to get ideas?



## Surfmom66 (Mar 24, 2009)

Don't know if anyone else does this, but do you ever go into a bookstore to get ideas on which books to get for your Kindle?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Definitely!  Plus whenever I see a book review or hear one mentioned on the radio or TV that interests me, I add it to a wish list or get a sample!

Betsy


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## ddarol (Feb 5, 2009)

I do the same as Betsy.  I carry a little notebook with me and write down the books I like and maybe a note or two about what the theme, etc.  

I still buy Cookbooks and How To books at the brick and morter places so I stalk them for good buys.  But I do have to admit that I have cancelled all my memberships at them as the fees are no longer worth the price to me.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

ddarol said:


> I do the same as Betsy. I carry a little notebook with me and write down the books I like and maybe a note or two about what the theme, etc.
> 
> I still buy Cookbooks and How To books at the brick and morter places so I stalk them for good buys. But I do have to admit that I have cancelled all my memberships at them as the fees are no longer worth the price to me.


But the discount you get with you membership at B&N is good at the Starbucks, too!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Absolutely! I'll bring my Kindle with me to Barnes & Noble, so, if I see a book that I like, I can check if it's available on the Kindle for a better price.  =)


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Absolutely.  First of all, the ambiance of a bookstore is something I'm not willing to give up.  I browse the books.  If I find something that looks interesting I turn my K on and download a sample.  
I never walk out empty handed either.  Books for my kids, my grandkids, and sometimes there are bargain books that I will never be able to get as cheap on K.  
deb


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

intinst said:


> But the discount you get with you membership at B&N is good at the Starbucks, too!


Not to mention that I still love giving books as gifts!

Betsy


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

I still have $18 left on a Barnes & Noble gift card, so I haven't abandoned bookstores entirely yet.


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

I used to practically live at my local Waldenbooks, but I don't go there nearly as much anymore. I do like to go in and look at books to get ideas, but I live in a small town and the selection at the tiny little store is not all that good. I'm sure that I would more of this if our store was a little bigger. I actually get more book ideas from these boards than I do from anywhere else.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

I pretty much never go to bookstores any more, but I didn't for a long time before my Kindle, either. Even though I live in a fairly large metro area, there aren't any stores convenient specifically to where I work or live, and I'm too lazy/tired/busy to go shopping in real stores much anymore. 

I mostly just browse through books and blogs online to get ideas.


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## Surfmom66 (Mar 24, 2009)

I always bring my Kindle wherever I go. I have to admit, I never take it out of my purse at the bookstore for fear that it may not be looked upon kindly by the staff since I'd be taking away any possible sale. Has anyone ever said anything to those that have?


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I almost always take my K out and turn it on.  No one at any of the stores I frequent have mentioned anything to me.  
deb


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## Zeronewbury (Feb 20, 2009)

My kids (ages 7 and 5) have acquired my love of libraries and bookstores, so I often take them to B&N, far more frequently I take them to the library.  And yes, I bring my Kindle.

One of my personal soothing things is to browse a quiet bookstore.  

Salt Lake is a great book-lover's city.  We have a huge City Library and a really nice County Library system.  We have the big chain bookstores and great places like 'The King's English.'


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Before I visit new cities I goggle book stores, craft stores and cross stitch shops.  I always find great new shops to explore.  Going to these places gets me into a part of the city I might not have otherwise wandered into.  And you get to meet the locals who always give great recommendations for local restaurants.
deb


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I also subscribe to BookMarks: http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/

Comes out every 2 months or so and has reviews of all different sorts of books. . .

Also available thru Amazon, but not yet for Kindle:



Ann


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I'll go in any bookstoe but Barnes & Noble, which is the enemy, after all.

Ed Patterson


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

I have gone to Books a Million with my daughter when she won a gift card, but I just hang out here and I was looking at the Book Stacks blog...it looks like something I would like. Anyone here know anything about it?


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## Latjoe (Feb 22, 2009)

I don't go to the chain bookstores anymore, mainly because they all seem to have the same selections.  But I'm fortunate enough to live in Sonoma County (California), and we have a wonderful independent bookstore called Copperfield's.  They have 6 or 7 stores scattered throughout the county. Their selection is markedly different from the chains.  They do have the bestsellers, of course, but they also have tons of local authors, of course, and smaller publishers, etc.  It's a fun place to hang out.  The Santa Rosa store has a tiny cafe/coffee shop attached, also locally owned.  (They carry Oberon journals as well -- Oberon is also a local company here).  

Anyone living near or traveling to Sonoma County, do check out Copperfields.  

Kathie

PS:  this sounds like a shameless plug, but I have no connection with Copperfields


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Surfmom66 said:


> I always bring my Kindle wherever I go. I have to admit, I never take it out of my purse at the bookstore for fear that it may not be looked upon kindly by the staff since I'd be taking away any possible sale. Has anyone ever said anything to those that have?


No one's ever said anything to me in all the times I've had my Kindle out in a bookstore. I'd be really surprised if someone had a problem with it.

I rarely buy new DTBs to begin with because they're pretty expensive (considering my budget and how quickly I read, at least), so, if I buy a cheaper version of a book on my Kindle, I'm not "taking away" a sale of something that I wasn't going to purchase from the bookstore in the first place.


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## DawnOfChaos (Nov 12, 2008)

Absolutely.  I'm usually brandishing one of those darn Borders coupons that I can't. stop. using.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

You have a Borders near you that hasn;t closed. The one I used to frequent is now a shabby shell disanchoring a strip mall. I guess it closed because it couldn;t compete with . . . Starbucks.

Ed Patterson


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

I often go to a nearby Borders with my laptop, so I can sit in the coffee shop and work (too many disctractions trying to work from home. Like TV. And psychotic cats. And this place... ) I can't help but shop a little when I'm there, and I frequently take pictures with my cell phon of books I want so that I won't forget about them. 

I need to win the lottery so I can actually buy all those books I keep finding...

It would help if I actually remembered to buy a lottery ticket, eh?


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Thumper said:


> I often go to a nearby Borders with my laptop, so I can sit in the coffee shop and work (too many disctractions trying to work from home. Like TV. And psychotic cats. And this place... ) I can't help but shop a little when I'm there, and I frequently take pictures with my cell phon of books I want so that I won't forget about them.
> 
> I need to win the lottery so I can actually buy all those books I keep finding...
> 
> It would help if I actually remembered to buy a lottery ticket, eh?


You do know that if you buy a ticket or if you don't your odds of winning the lottery are almost exactly the same?


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

No, I find Amazon's website infinitely better to find what I want.


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## EllenR (Mar 31, 2009)

I would if I ever get through the 40 books already on my Kindle waiting to be read and the 30 or so DTBs on my shelves waiting their turn...

EllenR


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

Am I the only one to say "nope" to going to actual bookstores after buying a Kindle? 

Firstly, not all of the books in the bookstore are going to be on the Kindle, I'm sure, so I don't bother looking at books that I can't read on my Kindle.

Secondly, I don't particularly like reading "standard" paper books anymore. The Kindle is more ergonomic, less strain on the eyes AND I can read it in a car without getting carsick. I don't really both with dead tree books anymore. 

Last time I was in a book and mortar bookstore it was in January for a book signing. Just can't see the reason in going to them anymore.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

Mikuto said:


> Last time I was in a book and mortar bookstore it was in January for a book signing. Just can't see the reason in going to them anymore.


I've felt this way for a long time.


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## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Mikuto said:


> Just can't see the reason in going to them anymore.


I can't say I feel this way.

I went to a bookstore a few weeks ago and found a book I had been wanting on sale for about $3.00. It was about $11.00 in Kindle format.

I don't care how comfortable the Kindle may be, I'm not paying $8.00 more for a book just for convenience. LOL


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I still enjoy walking around bookstores.... I have the Amazon.com app on my iPhone (not the Kindle app) and I use that to look up books that I would like to read and add them to my shopping cart. When I get home, I go through all the books I added to my shopping cart to see if there are Kindle versions, then I add them to my wishlists for later purchase....


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

I buy everything on Amazon.com:

I bought a cot, thermos bottles, a Vinyl to CD converter (that was more expensive than a Kindle), plus its become my first line of search for any product. And as a Vine Reviewer, I get all sorts of free stuff to review (get the Werther's Chocalate caramel hard-candies when they come available - I gave it 5-stars, but you can skip the bamboo enviromentally green tote bag that . . . as we say in Brooklyn . . . don;t hold nuttin'.) I'm very much an Amazon-critter, despite the gay & lesbian hassle with #amazonfail.

Edward C. Patterson
I write books (22 of 'em)


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## ladyvolz (Dec 23, 2008)

I'm a Books a Million person.  Love to go there and browse.  I also will pull out my kindle while in the store to check and see if a book I am interested in is avail in kindle format.  

I still buy some books like biographies, historicals, and autobiographies in DTB if they have pictures or maps.  I like to go back and forth looking at the maps and/or pictures while I am reading and have found that for me, trying to do that on the kindle is too much trouble.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

I did at first, but since I found kindleboards I definitely don't need any more ideas!  I do love going in bookstores, though, but it's hard to find time any more just to browse.  I do try to buy lots of gifts from bookstores 

PS - I don't have a problem whipping out the Kindle in a bookstore.  Last Christmas I was done with my shopping, so I sat in one of the easy chairs at B&N to read until I could go pick up DD.


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## sigrosenblum (Dec 22, 2008)

Yes. I've always loved browsing in bookstores. I'm old enough to remember Bookseller's Row in New York. What a feast!

Later, as a publisher, I dipped in for book ideas--and they jumped out at me from the packed shelves.

Then, years after that, as a book writer, I was amazed to discover how many of my "brilliant" book projects had already been picked up by enterprising authors. "Been there. Done that," they taunted.

I still keep a fat file labeled "Book Ideas." But before I roll up my sleeves and dig into research, I still bounce around the bookstores. And much more than I like, my "brilliance" disolves. Someone--often many--beat me to it!

Sig

http://sigrosenblum.7p.com/


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Sigosen:

Do you remember Menzosa's. Say you do, because that was a real bookstore. (In my noel Turning Idolater, I recreate Mondoza's, and in Stephen King's The Dark Tower, so does he, moves it uptown and renames it Tower's Books). 

Edward C. Patterson


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## sigrosenblum (Dec 22, 2008)

edwpat said:


> Sigosen:
> 
> Do you remember Menzosa's. Say you do, because that was a real bookstore. (In my noel Turning Idolater, I recreate Mondoza's, and in Stephen King's The Dark Tower, so does he, moves it uptown and renames it Tower's Books).
> 
> Edward C. Patterson


Nope. Never heard of it. But don't feel bad, Ed. When I say I go way back, I mean waaaaaay, brother!

Sig

http://sigrosenblum.7p.com/


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Steph H said:


> I pretty much never go to bookstores any more, but I didn't for a long time before my Kindle, either. Even though I live in a fairly large metro area, there aren't any stores convenient specifically to where I work or live, and I'm too lazy/tired/busy to go shopping in real stores much anymore.
> 
> I mostly just browse through books and blogs online to get ideas.


Same here. I don't know how many years it has been since I've been inside a bookstore. Pre-K, I bought all my books at Goodwill, flea markets, the $ store, the library and, of course, Amazon.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

I went to a book fair today and found that I really enjoyed looking at paper books.  I wrote down about twenty titles that I'd like to look at in more detail, either through reviews or through sample chapters, but if they're not available for the Kindle I'll just as happily buy them in paperback.   But looking through paper books, reading a bit here and a bit there and the back cover and the jacket notes is such a comfortable habit that I don't think the Kindle will replace that for me.  I'm eagerly taking recommendations for books from KBoards, but I'll also browse through Borders or B&N for ideas.

And of course I'll need bookstores for gift books...  and DD's books...  and large reference books...  and anything that involves complex or color illustrations....  can't imagine doing without any of those!

Besides, there's just something so soothing about bookstores.


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## DawnOfChaos (Nov 12, 2008)

edwpat said:


> You have a Borders near you that hasn;t closed. The one I used to frequent is now a shabby shell disanchoring a strip mall. I guess it closed because it couldn;t compete with . . . Starbucks.
> 
> Ed Patterson


I have a mega monster Borders. Two story extravaganza. I'm usually in there once a week. They serve coffee drinks, like Starbucks 

As for the cost, I'm with mwvickers. I won't pay an additional $8 for the convenience either. If its close I'll get it on Kindle, otherwise its the call of the coupon for me.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2009)

I still go to bookstores, mostly because I'm a magazine junkie. I was in Waldenbooks a few days ago, saw a book I really wanted, so after I left I pulled out my Kindle and ordered it. Cost me about 10 bucks less!


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## ScrappingForever (Nov 26, 2008)

Yep! I love bookstores! Love the smell and feel of them, and love getting ideas for new books. I also get emails from Random house on new books, and any other place I can get ideas from!


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Sirosen:

I'm talking way back too. Mendoza's was tucked away on Ann Street in lower Manhattan and it was the oldest continuously operated bookstore in NYC when it closed. Dont know how way-back you go, but I go back to 1947.

Ed Patterson


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

My books have always been my most prized possessions. Some books call me - I mean, I have to own them, put them on the shelf and admire them from time to time. I even go so far as to replace favored paperbacks with hardcovers and "upgrade" book club editions to first editions or specialty bindings when I find them in used book stores.

I dread the day that I find a wonderful Kindle book that's  not available in print. If that happens I may just have to retire the Kindle, wrap it in Photo-Shopped dust-jacket, put it on the shelf and buy a new Kindle.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Jeff:

Sniff. Sniff. Since the sale of my house, my prized 3rd editon gold gilt edge 18090 Dickens (bought in Mendaza's - Sigrosen lol), is in 4 plastic storage bins in Public Storage some 3 miles away. Boo Hoo.

Ed Patterson

PS: Jeff, you'll need to teach me how to make one of them thar graphics that cycles through your book covers.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

edwpat said:


> Since the sale of my house, my prized 3rd editon gold gilt edge 18090 Dickens (bought in Mendaza's - Sigrosen lol), is in 4 plastic storage bins in Public Storage some 3 miles away. Boo Hoo.


In about 1989 I tried to find Mendoza's but the building was unfamiliar and so I thought they they had gone out of business. Later the concierge of the hotel told me that Mendoza's had moved to the 2nd floor. I was too busy to go back and decided that I'd put it off until my next trip to NY but I never got back. Life goes on.



edwpat said:


> ...you'll need to teach me how to make one of them thar graphics that cycles through your book covers.


Download the free MS GIF animator from my web site here:

http://www.jhepple.com/gif_animator.htm

Re-sample your book covers to avatar size (mine are 78X100), import each cover into the animator, set the delay between each frame, save it and you're good to go.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks Jeff, you're a marvel. BTW, I made those Amazon description correction on Turning Idolater thatyou caught.   If you want to visit Mendoza's, Turning Idolater takes you there and even to the second floor, where they restored old books and bindings. (Now that was a bit of research on my part, Whew!). I forget if you have trod the pages of Turning Idolater. If not, send me an email with your shipping address and Ye shall have a copy "FOR THE SHELF" with my beautiful self-wrought cover. I'm at [email protected] , but I think you have that.

I shall try the animation. Will it take 11 titles? lol. 

Ed P


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

mwvickers said:


> I can't say I feel this way.
> 
> I went to a bookstore a few weeks ago and found a book I had been wanting on sale for about $3.00. It was about $11.00 in Kindle format.
> 
> I don't care how comfortable the Kindle may be, I'm not paying $8.00 more for a book just for convenience. LOL


Convenience aside, I live in a one bedroom apartment with two other people. I simply don't have the space for another book. I bought my kindle first and foremost as a storage device!


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I love to go into bookstores and browse. I definitely get ideas for books to buy on Kindle, even though my Kindle is still a dream and I have to read on my iTouch. But not long ago I was in a bookstore and sat in one of their comfortable armchairs to rest and browse through a book. My pen slipped out of my pocket. When I put my hand down to retrieve it from between the cushion and the chair arm, I found a bunch of coins--$1.40, to be exact. So those became Kindle coins to add to my growing collection earmarked for my Kindle.


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## mwvickers (Jan 26, 2009)

Mikuto said:


> Convenience aside, I live in a one bedroom apartment with two other people. I simply don't have the space for another book. I bought my kindle first and foremost as a storage device!


That would make a difference, LOL.

Although I have had to pack up many of my books to convert my office into a nursery, I still have the ability to store those books, so I have not completely stopped buying hard copy books, although I have slowed down a lot and started to buy on Kindle if the price is right.


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