Love my indEpeNDenTS

Independent bookstores give me joy. In my top ten things to do…browse without a timeline in a special bookstore. Read all the "Staff Favorite" notes. Make lists. Enjoy the reader atmosphere. Get a jolt of whoopee finding a used version amongst the new ones.

Snapped at University Bookstore, Seattle

Oh, I admit it, I've ordered from Amazon, I miss having a Borders around,  and I'm always glad to see a Barnes & Noble in an unfamiliar city in case I need to quench my book thirst. But again today I was reminded just how much I value my three favorite local independent bookstores for books and merchandising that beat the box stores anytime.  And when I'm in Portland, I buy at Powell's and Reading Frenzy; a trip to Denver is incomplete without The Tattered Cover. I plan my trips to other cities around bookstores noted in My Bookstore (Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop, Ronald Rice, editor.)

Third Place Books, Elliott Bay Books, and today's visit to University Bookstore always, always leave me feeling deliciously woozy with Book Lust.  (And a good word in for Secret Garden, though I am not a regular shopper there, a bit out of my way.) They carry and promote books you just won't find (even if they are there, sitting unnoticed on a shelf  at BN. I spend too much on books. Always have. Always will.





Have you seen Julia Rothman's Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts  & Pieces of the Natural World  (similar to another of hers, Farm Anatomy)? Love it for its diagram my feel and interesting tidbits, not to mention great drawing models, for when you need to draw your next katydid.

Then there's Lost in Translation: An illustrated compendium of untranslatable words from around the world.  Author/Artist, Ella Frances Sanders.

gezellig (Dutch)

                            

or the Arabic ya'aburnee

                             











Journalers and sketchers, check out China Days:  A visual journal from China's wild west by the wonderful Henrik Drescher.

Also could not resist What Would Jane Do?  Quips and wisdom from Jane Austen.

I'm certain all of these books cost less on Amazon. but I have special attachments to my books from the independents. All of these stores  recognize their loyal customers with small rewards, but even if they did not, my heart would break at the news that any one has to go away because we readers don't buy their books in consistent and great enough numbers. Books are costly these days; I can't buy everything I want to read, but that's what my library card is for.  (And don't even get me started on libraries….I treasure libraries!)