why not Pet Rocks?

[kip_w]

.
I see they're closing another 200 28 Borders stores. The two around here were unscathed last time. I haven't looked at the PDF yet. I remember when Borders was the best book store chain in town.

I got one of their promo emails the other day, and they announced, as an inducement for us to come in and save their bottom line, free Silly Bandz for the kidz!

I swear, I halfway felt like crying. This is what they came up with? They used to be, well, good.

Edited to subtract 172
.

Comments

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I still remember my first time in a Borders, when they were the new thing and there was one in the area and you had to drive a half-hour to get to it. After a world of Crown Books full of disappointment, it was like a magical wonderland.

[stevendj.livejournal.com]

They're closing 28 more stores, not 200.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I misremembered the usenet post that said they were closing 28 stores in addition to the 200 they've already closed.

I finally spotted a typo in The Man Who Laughs, almost a third of the way through.

[stevendj.livejournal.com]

Whoops. The address for reporting typos is errata2010@pglaf.org.

I've found enough typos at the last minute to never have confidence that I've caught everything, but I do still hold vain ambitions for perfection. Although I am pretty satisfied with the job I did on The Man Who Laughs—I'm sure I caught almost all of the typos that were left in it after it came out of the proofing rounds.

If you're a third of the way through, you still have my favorite paragraph to look forward to, the one near the end of Book Eight which begins "I have told you you are cowards."

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Looking forward indeed. This is my first full re-read of the book, due to the fact I never see copies for sale. Well, there was one paperback that was a cruddy-looking facsimile of an old edition, and for that they wanted something like $40.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Decadent organizations often show their worst side in publicity. I wish I'd kept the mailing with the pathetically daffy blurbs on the season's repertoire that a departed local orchestra sent out one of the years of its death throes.

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

Now, the question is, will we see a resurgence in small independent bookstores.
I hope so.

[rtred.livejournal.com]

No, new books will likely now be the realm of the ebook. People w/out ereaders will find it increasingly difficult to find physical copies of new books. On the plus side, ereaders will become cheap, ubiquitous, and reliable.

[le-trombone.livejournal.com]

Depends on the book format. I expect the mass market paperback is doomed. Hardcovers and specialty formats like slipcase editions will still hang in there.

The question is whether that format can sustain a store. Sadly, I think we're going to see a lot more brick-and-mortar book stores not survive that transition.

[rtred.livejournal.com]

Exactly... I was making a quick generalization. Books as physical objects will always be with us. And back issue dealers/used book stores will likely do fine as well, as older OOP books are not clamoring to be digitized.

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad I have 10,000 books in my library.
I don't like e readers.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I have a few books in my library too, but when I go on vacation, it's tough to pack enough of them. The 354 titles on my e-reader (primitive model; it's pretty near to its total capacity now) are enough to satisfy my needs for such things.

I also have my LJ books on there, with everything I've written in my journal, and all the short stories I wrote for my writing group, and all the chapters of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality which have so far been put online.

Not burning my books, but I'm not lugging them around, either.

[meggins.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Borders up at Patrick Henry Mall is among the doomed.

Yes, I remember when Borders was a wonderland--before we got the local one and you had to drive to Richmond (and probably there was one in Norfolk).