Lucybird Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Wow, you're probably better off online then! I must say our Borders isn't the greatest, it has 2 floors but half of the top floor is taken up by paperchase, starbucks, and the magazines! The bottom floor is all non-fiction so I've only ever walked through it although I plan to have a look at their psychology section. Our waterstones on the other hand are great, one has 4 floors, all pretty big (except maybe the tower, which is still a decent size), and the other has 5 (but one doesn't have many books in it, they call it the book garden and it's designed for reading in). But then I do live in Birmingham I expect Waterstones in smaller places are not as good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanC_84 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Wow, you're probably better off online then! I must say our Borders isn't the greatest, it has 2 floors but half of the top floor is taken up by paperchase, starbucks, and the magazines! The bottom floor is all non-fiction so I've only ever walked through it although I plan to have a look at their psychology section. Our waterstones on the other hand are great, one has 4 floors, all pretty big (except maybe the tower, which is still a decent size), and the other has 5 (but one doesn't have many books in it, they call it the book garden and it's designed for reading in). But then I do live in Birmingham I expect Waterstones in smaller places are not as good Borders is completely dominant out here in Australia. No other book store comes close. And yeah, it has such a wide variety of books/movies/music products that only a relatively small section of the massive store is actually dedicated to fiction novels, so the range is poor. Online is definately the way to go for me. Although I wanted to start mixing in a couple of classics into my reading and Borders has most of those so I will probably buy them from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 That's a shame, we didn't have a Borders in Birmingham until about 5 years ago and I still don't really like it, usually I only go in because I like paperchase. I find the atmosphere in Waterstones is better (and I adore one of our waterstones, I could live there!) and they have more books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 We have 2 Waterstones within about a minute of each other, I've only been in one, and it has a huge variety of books, I usually only go for the 3 for 2 offer though, so it almost always ends up as random books rather than ones I'm specifically looking for, it's much cheaper to buy those ones from Amazon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 We have Borders here in the US, but no Waterstones that I'm aware of. We have a lot of Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, and Borders options mostly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I do prefer bookshops but the books I read in English are almost always ordered online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen1 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I do prefer buying in bookstores as I love browsing but sometimes ordering online is quicker, easier and cheaper. It's probably 50/50 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Both for me. I love browsing anywhere that sells books, and am happy to buy on line if the price is comparable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I only get a chance to browse in bookshops at weekends because I work at an isolated business park during the week and there is nowhere within reasonable distance to go in and browse. Hence, I am quite often on Amazon here at work (but don't tell anyone:mrgreen:). It is soooooo easy to press the "one-click" button and hey presto another book arrives. I very rarely pay the full price for books either - I would be bankrupt if I bought all my books in Waterstones but I often pick up a bargain in Sussex Bookshops or, more frequently charity shops. I agree though, there is nothing like browsing through real books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 We have 2 Waterstones within about a minute of each other, I've only been in one, and it has a huge variety of books, I usually only go for the 3 for 2 offer though, so it almost always ends up as random books rather than ones I'm specifically looking for, it's much cheaper to buy those ones from Amazon Yes ours is like that too. One used to be a Dillons but I barely used it when it was because the kids section at waterstones was great. Now I use the one which was Dillons more because it's a nicer shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysalis_stage Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I tend to buy the majority of my books online for the convenience because I don't seem to have the time to visit bookshops people won't let me in them. I don't seem to wander to them on my own, I shall have to start. I do love browsing bookshops, I have anxiety quite abit but when I step inside a bookshop it's magical, all worries disappear. I normally make a note of the books I like in my notes folder on my mobile and check them online when I get home. This is my prefered method because I'm also a poor student who can't afford to buy full price books, although I have done recently because the temptation was too much. I do buy books from charity shops though because they are cheap and justified lol. Internet = cheaper and convenient. Bookshop = treat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iagegu Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I mainly buy via the internet. They get delivered to my door and I get free delivery as well. Books I want are rarely on offer in a bookshop. If I go into down I will go and browse in Waterstones and sometime come out with something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Nothing compares, for me, to browsing in a bookshop and flipping through the pages.. I'm particular about the font size, font shade, and size of the books I buy, so browsing in person is great for me. But I do think the internet is really handy if there's a book you can't get ahold of from the shop. These days you can look in the inside of the book online as well (just 30 pages or so) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busy91 Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I like book shops but I become inundated when I'm in one, and I cannot decide on books. When I shop online, I can read the synopsis and the reviews, and make my decision. Sometimes I'll do the research on line and then go to the store, sometimes I just buy. I can get books in 1 day here in NYC from Barnes & Noble, so it isn't much of a wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDR124 Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 There is nothing like the pleasure, the overwhelming sensation of being in one of those little,but very book-crammed, bookshops; you pick up a book and turn slowly the pages, as if you had to study how it is made. Unfortunately I've been reading in a different language from the one spoken in my contry So all I have to do is: buying english books from the net the bright sight is they're cheaper than italian ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilde Lily Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I love bookstores, especially used book stores where you never know what pearl of a book you might discover. I do find, though, that if I'm looking for a specific book amazon.com is the best place to find it, nine times out of ten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sth202 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 If I'm looking for something specific I usually buy online because it's much cheaper and more convenient than buying in shops. It's easier to shop around and find the best prices and you don't have to carry them anywhere. I don't have as much time to read as I would like so I haven't bought books from shops for ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yeah I tend to buy specific books from Amazon quite frequently, but not always- I have no patience to wait for things to arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 So all I have to do is: buying english books from the net the bright sight is they're cheaper than italian ones If you live in a big city such as Milan, Hoepli has a vast original language section. Feltrinelli's isn't as huge, but there's usually something worthwhile to pick up, especially classics and new releases! Hope that helps. Giulia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDR124 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 If you live in a big city such as Milan, Hoepli has a vast original language section. Feltrinelli's isn't as huge, but there's usually something worthwhile to pick up, especially classics and new releases! Hope that helps. Giulia thanks anyway, but I happen to live far from a big city. as I've written in another post there's only one english bookshop in a city near the one I live in...and it isn't so big. so the net is my only resource. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natty Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I love buying books from bookshops, especially new books. No smell like it. However, I think books are pricey so often resort to charity shops or downloading them for my ebook reader. There was a really good Oxfam bookstore in West Bridgford, Nottingham. I used to go to uni nearby and absolutely loved going in there to see if I could get any cheap ones for my reading list. More often than not I'd come out with a big bag of books, mostly ones not on my reading list haha! I'm also a big fan of places like Amazon's marketplace. I've been looking for Twenty Years After by Alexander Dumas for a while as a present for my bloke (it's our one year anniversary, he likes the musketeers, put it all together with the title and you get something quite cute), but rather than buying a sort of wordsworth classic or Oxford, I wanted an old fashioned hardback type, you know the sort. Got one from Matthews633 on there like Wednesday and it arrived this morning for one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Charity shops, and second hand bookshops in general, (cheap as they are) have one big problem however: pencilled-in prices, anyone? My sister's visiting and she took me to an Oxfam Books to get me a couple of books to read, one ("Deep Trouble" by Debi Gigliori) is absolutely beautiful, I'm not a big fan of hardbacks but this one is black velvet with gilded gold stars on it and gosh is it prettiful. But all that prettifulness is spoilt by Oxfam writing (scratching, more like) " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlette Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 I adore wandering through bookstores - second hand stores are the best, because all the books have that been here forever smell that's so very addictive. But books are so expensive when you buy new, so I prefer shopping online because it's so much cheaper. Also, online shops have a wider variety when it comes to bookcovers. I'm very particular about bookcovers. A good old-fashioned bookstore remains a huge temptation, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rach.at.the.disco Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Bookshops all the time. Always new bookshops too, I hate second hand books. I love how neat the bookshelves are and being able to pick them up and have a flick through. I only buy online when they're books I can't get in the shop or if they're a lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 When it comes to charity shops British Heart Foundation shops tend to use stickers if the writing really bothers you, but of course with your velvet, Bookjumper, that would just be an extra sticky mark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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