The owner of Mosaic Books in Kelowna, BC, was not quiet about admitting that despite the rise of Amazon and Kindles, his downtown, brick-layered bookshop is doing just fine. Although the internet is cluttered with information and "shopping cart" options, people still flock to bookstores - and it's clearly for more than just the books.
I spent nearly an hour loitering in Drawn & Quarterly, a fantastic book shop in Montreal, before taking my purchase across the street to a strategically-positioned eccentric coffeeshop. The mood in D&Q was relaxed, open, and curious - three things I love to be, and three things shopping on Amazon will never give me.
As the world becomes increasingly internet-obsessed, I think we crave these small moments of interaction. In an independent bookshop, we can ask the staff for recommendations and trust their advice. We can stumble upon new novels we never would have considered. We can sit, whether it's on the dirty carpet floor or a comfortable recliner or a pile of musty books, and soak up the atmosphere that makes literature so beautifully hidden and obscure.
I spent nearly an hour loitering in Drawn & Quarterly, a fantastic book shop in Montreal, before taking my purchase across the street to a strategically-positioned eccentric coffeeshop. The mood in D&Q was relaxed, open, and curious - three things I love to be, and three things shopping on Amazon will never give me.
As the world becomes increasingly internet-obsessed, I think we crave these small moments of interaction. In an independent bookshop, we can ask the staff for recommendations and trust their advice. We can stumble upon new novels we never would have considered. We can sit, whether it's on the dirty carpet floor or a comfortable recliner or a pile of musty books, and soak up the atmosphere that makes literature so beautifully hidden and obscure.