bookpublishing

It’s funny how rarely I buy books these days. I get so many at work that I certainly have enough floating around, but I do really enjoy walking through a real bookstore, touching the spines, reading the reviews, and smelling their lovely smell–a scent that is somehow both old and new at the same time.

Above is RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut–now only a town away from my new apartment. It’s a gorgeous independent bookstore (yeah, it really does look that cute in person) that appears to be doing very well and has lots of excellent author events. It even has its own cafe, which I discovered just now is run by La Rosticceria, one of my favorite sandwich shops in Guilford, Connecticut. A beautiful spot, in a gorgeous town, with fantastic food–it made me wonder how Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders stay afloat (oops, I guess I should say Amazon and Barnes & Noble). Of course, books cost more at independent bookstores, who can’t match the high discounts offered by the larger conglomerates. I am a longtime customer of the big companies–especially Amazon and in the last few years Borders as well. I was attracted by the low cost of books… but today I recognized the value of books that I had ignored.

I have a bit of a short sightedness when it comes to books. I see creative process, the packaging, the manufacturing… and after the book is at the printer, I forget about it until there is a book in my hands. I get a lot of books as gifts, too. So I often don’t think about how the books are sold including all the retail aspects. I hadn’t thought about the value of my shopping experience. So I can confidently say I’ll be back to RJ Julias again soon.

Unfortunately they didn’t have the book I wanted though (Kathy Reichs’ Deja Dead)… wait, what was the point of going there again? lol Just kidding! I did pick up Zadie Smith’s On Beauty. I know nothing about Zadie Smith and I picked it up completely on a whim (really only because it takes place near Boston). Here goes!

Thanks to Slack12 at Flickr.com for use of the RJ Julia photo–check out the other fantastic shots by this photographer!

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