Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

I've recently started wondering about the future of bookshops (I got waaaaay too much free time). Because of today's technology and all the Kindles and stuff, how long do you think it's going to take when no ones buying real books? I personally love spending time in bookstores and looking for new titles. That's how I got to know Vampire Academy, Sookie and lots and lots of other books. But sometimes I think how long it'll take because I can already see the prices going higher and higher in our local stores... Let's just hope that doesn't ever happen, because I'm one of those who could spend hours (and money, of course) in a good bookstore and I love that I can take my paperbacks everywhere...

My used book store is always busy now where it wasn't before so I think the economy has been good for them. I do get more of my books from the library now than I did before and I try to buy used as much as I can.

I live in a small town and we no longer have a bookstore. We had a Waldens in the mall but they closed so now we only have two used book stores. I have a Kindle so it hasn't been too heartbreaking but I too like to shop at a bookstore and look at all the different books. So now I will go to the library to get my book fix.

I don't think paper books are looking at extinction any time soon. To read how I think the industry will change...

http://brennalyonsden.blogspot.com/20...

Brenna

I agree with carolyn. I have a nook but I also try to get books at Half-Price books, ebay and through paperbackswap.com

Heavens I hope bookstores don't go under. I love the feel and smell of a good book, and I'm pretty sure the computer can never replace that for me... no matter how "paper like" it's supposed to be.

I too love the feel of a real book. Having said that, I do own a Nook. Its not the same having a "real" book in my hands, but its sure nice when traveling or sitting at appointments.

Sabrina--I too really prefer my "dead tree" (to quote my daughter) format. Unfortunately, I have very bad arthritis, and some days I can't hold a book. That's really part of the reason that I got the Nook. Of course, the other part is--its GREAT to not have to have the biggest suitcase I own devoted to nothing but my books when I travel. I presently have 800 books on my Nook, so I have lots and lots and LOTS of reading material for when I'm traveling. Of course, the not having to lug a suitcase full of books with me when we LEAVE doesn't necessarily mean that when we get home I won't have one. :o) We hit a couple of different shops when traveling--used book stores, Books a Million (don't have one where I live), 3 different quilt stores. . . That's just when we go to see my Mum. If we have to travel anywhere else, the first think I do when we get to where-ever is pull out the phone book and look up Used Bookstores, thrift stores and quilt shops. lol, and then I visit as many of them as I can cram into my trip.

Tytti wrote: "I've recently started wondering about the future of bookshops (I got waaaaay too much free time). Because of today's technology and all the Kindles and stuff, how long do you think it's going to ta..."

I so agree with you Tytti! I love love love my kindle but....I love sitting in a bookstore with books surrounding me. I love picking them up and searching through them. I can spend all day in a good book store. Though I haven't been in one in a while, I hope that I never have to give that up. There is nothing like it.

I also have a love for holding a book in my hands. I also like the covers and the smell of them. So I was really hesitant to buy my Kindle that I now love. I still have a love for books so I will borrow from the library what I can so I have the best of both worlds.

I don't think I could read if I didn't have an actual book to hold. I may be old fashioned by I just can't sit there with a kindle. None-the-less the bright light from the device will end up making my eyes hurt more than if I was reading a regular book.

however a kindle/nook etc isn't backlit...there is no light associated with these, unless you buy a clip on...

Elizabeth wrote: "I don't think I could read if I didn't have an actual book to hold. I may be old fashioned by I just can't sit there with a kindle. None-the-less the bright light from the device will end up making..."

Not all of them are backlit. But eye doctors suggest ereaders for certain types of vision loss. It's very individual. I find reading from a screen easier than from a printed book. Many people are the opposite.

I stopped buying new paperbacks because here in Canada they hit $10 for a 3-400 page book, too expensive for the way I read. The used bookstore which is a 20 minute drive sells them starting at 5.50. Hubby got me an ereader for mothers day and to my immense surprise I love it. It's easier to buy books(especially at eight o'clock at night when I run out)and cheaper too. Some books I will continue to buy in hard cover, basically my series like Anita Blake and Mercy, but for I now get my romance fix online. I also like the ability to enlarge the print on an ereader -- getting old sucks lol.

Well, I've found that the one good thing that I've had happen as I've gotten older is--its getting EASIER for me to read without glasses. By which, I mean I no longer have to hold the book practically touching my nose if I don't have my glasses on. But I'm so near sighted its rediculous. If I take my glasses off--I can't even see what's going on at my FEET. My eye dr. told me that if I live to be about 200--and don't develop some other eye-problem--my vision will finally be at 20/20 instead of the absolutely horrible 150/20 it is now.

er--ok for those who don't remember their basic science course from all those eons ago--what that means is that at 20 feet, what I see is what people with 20/20 vision see at 150 feet. Remember that poor kid who had the coke bottle glasses when you were in school? That was probably ME. I got my first pair of bifocals at EIGHT. So, just a little bitty bit blind. :o)

Ahhh, I need to leave IL! LOL. >.<

I, too, am awfully nearsighted; but it's wonderful being able to read and work on the computer without my glasses. I don't feel the need for those dratted bifocals anymore. I can even see the holes in my tiny seed beads when I'm stitching something. My friends struggle to see things up close without the bifocals or trifocals, and I don't have that problem. However, don't ask me what's at the other end of the room since all I see at a distance is a big blur. I do find that trying to read the titles of books on the bottom shelves is a little hard. I guess they're out of my focal range.

LOL having worn glasses forever I hear you all. I'm finding it hard now to read while wearing my glasses. I prefer to take them off to read and enlarge the print so the book is not stuck to my face. When I take my glasses off, they blur right into whatever I've put them on and I will sometimes walk right past them looking for them as hubby laughs his ass off. The jerk of course has 20/20 vision.

My husband's eyes are worse than mine, so I have the last laugh. He couldn't thread a needle if his life depended on it. If he drops a tiny screw or nut somewhere while he's working on one of his motorcycles, I have to go find it for him. OTOH, I have a bad habit of leaving my glasses in different parts of the house and then being unable to find them. It sure is fun getting old.

My hubby's vision used to be almost as bad as mine. Then he developed cataracts (he has diabetes--which can cause the early development of them) and when they were removed we opted to have the lovely bi-focal lenses implanted in his eyes. So now he can see close up AND distance. What he has trouble with now is "middle" distance--i.e. computer screens and things at that distance. So he has a couple of pairs of cheap (read $1) reading glasses that he has scattered all over the house.

The GOOD thing about his being able to see now--when I take my glasses off and can't find them (I need them to find them) he can now find them for me. :o)

Sandra J wrote: "I can even see the holes in my tiny seed beads when I'm stitching something. ..."

Hi Sandra....I stitch as well and it's great to meet another stitcher! Readers and stitchers are the best people.

Well, we're never at a loss for something to do!

lol, I too stitch. Quilting is my big love. But I also do embroidery, knitting, crochet, tatting, beading and costuming. Weirdly enough--the costuming actually encourages all of the other stitchery, since I've used almost all of it at some point while doing costumes.