Comments on: Where Do You Head For in a Bookstore?

By: Chris Sommer

Chris Sommer — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:18:18 +0000

I have little to contribute outside of pointing out that the stairway forms a sad Cthulhu face.

By: Cameron Pierce

Cameron Pierce — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:34:01 +0000

In Powell’s, I tend to browse like this:

1. Small Press, then a quick walk by the philosophy section (and maybe stopping to see if they have an E.M. Cioran book I haven’t read).
2. Horror
3. SF/F
4. General Lit. and Poetry (right by the small press section)
5. New releases and/or clearance books
X. I usually try to make my way around the art and film books.

Whatever author or subject fixations I have at the moment greatly impacts where I spend the most time.

By: teaver

teaver — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:11:53 +0000

I usually look for the nearest poor soul working there to drive them to despair with my wish list. I just don’t move my meat to a bookstore without a reason.

If I do, that means I’m with my 3,5-year old and she rules me. Sometimes she takes me to sections I would never enter – some kind of Scientific or Technical – especially if she spots bacteria or cars on covers. But we always head to the Fantasy/ Sci-Fi, Horror and then Comics/ Graphic Novels. I usually leave her there with some Spiderman in her hands to check the nearby Sociology or Fiction. I sometimes go with her to Foreign Languages, but she gets bored too quickly, unless there is a well stocked Children Literature section (with all the sound stories and musical books, that she loves for ten minutes).

I rarely go to Action/ Mistery. I leave it to my husband. The end of the route is Magazines and DVDs.

By: Jeff P

Jeff P — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:03:05 +0000

New stuff (especially mass market paperbacks, tho all those seem to be paranormal romance/urban fantasy these days); horror, the incredible shrinking section, rarely finding anything new or interesting; SF; Fiction/Literature; Comics/Graphic Novels; Remainders; Magazines. Occasionally I’ll check the art books.

By: Hellbound Heart

Hellbound Heart — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:36:23 +0000

i absolutely LOVE browsing through book shops but it doesn’t happen very much at all these days, between a daughter that keeps asking me if i’ve finished and mum, come and have a look at this and a husband who isn’t terribly interested in books at all (i love him for his body!)….i tend to go look at the fantasy, s-f, horror sections, might go and have a browse amongst the more high-profile books, look at the discounted books and end up with a bag of books to take home that i know will take me bloody ages to read……..i loathe books by authors like grisham, y’ know, political conspiracies, cia and all that shit….also hate girly-girl/romance books, like a good psycho thriller as well……
VISITED MY FIRST BORDERS BOOK SHOP THE OTHER DAY OH WOW OH WOW OH WOW!!!!!

peace and love….

By: Joe Sherry

Joe Sherry — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:42:23 +0000

Assuming my local B&N.

1. Browse through the front tables. I’m always tempted by the new paperback nonfictions and whatever is considered the popular “literary” fiction and the nonfictions. Make a hard left to the…

2. SF/F. I’m not sure what I’m looking for here and I’m generally aware of everything in the section. I just like browsing and see if my favorite authors are actually on the shelf. Circle around the edges and head into…

3. General Lit. This isn’t discovery orientated because I’m not keeping up with the lit scene right now. Sometimes I’m looking to buy, sometimes not. If I am, I’m looking for a name to catch my eye – a name I’ve heard of but possibly not read. Finish at the beginning of the alphabet and turn left to…

4. Nonfiction. Browse biographies and general Non Fiction. I’ve got a soft spot for American History stuff, particularly biographies of the Presidents. Does Robert Caro have the fourth Lyndon Johnson Bio out yet? I should really read volumes 2 and 3. Has Atkinson written the follow up to An Army At Dawn? I should read that, too. Anything just sound awesome? Maybe I should buy it. I have this internal conversation with myself every time I’m in that section.

5. Minnesota books. I don’t spend much time here, but I like to see if there’s anything worth looking at.

6. Heading out of the store and i check the discounted books. Found hardcovers of Heart-Shaped Box and Hunter’s Run recently.

Now – if I go to Uncle Hugo’s (local SFF bookstore), I spend most of my time gradually working through the used books. Spend very little time w/ the new books.

By: Neddal

Neddal — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:39:36 +0000

Big box: Random skim of the bargain books. Quick skim of the magazines (music + photography) which generally depresses me as most N. American magazine writing about music is terrible. Then – General Fiction – Cultural Studies (that nebulous section where history, art, pop culture, etc… hook up), Art/Performing Arts – Travel.

In smaller bookstores I tend to be pretty random, I’ll check out whatever catches my eye.

Someone mentioned something about the layout of Borders? I dunno about Borders, but in the Cdn. equivalent (Chapters) the layout is set up to keep people moving through the store. To the point where sections have a habit of moving every few months. It’s supposed to increase circulation w/in the store, but it’s mostly annoying.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:18:59 +0000

1. If I’m in Romania:
a) if the bookstore has an English section, I go to English genre books, English non-genre, then translated genre, translated everything else;
b) if the bookstore doesn’t have an English section, I just start at the door and work my way in.

2. If I’m in Foreign:
a) if the bookstore has an English section, I do the happy dance and *squee* (length of squee depending on the size of the English shelf), then browse in the same order as above. If I know the language well-enough to read it, I might buy some local SF/F, but usually I just look at the covers etc.
b) if the bookstore doesn’t have an English section, I start at the genre section (look at covers etc.) then go see the rest.

By: Xelgaex

Xelgaex — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:54:22 +0000

On entering in order to get to anything else you have to walk past the things being promoted, these are usually interesting, but I probably wouldn’t seek them out if they weren’t presented that way. Next I usually head to the SF/F or Comics sections depending on what I’m in the mood for and also which store I’m in. Sometimes I don’t go anywhere else, but if I’m staying to browse for a while, I’ll head for General Fiction or History next. Sometimes I’ll go to Children’s and Teen’s to look at what’s new. Occasionally I’ll take a look at the Philosophy section. Science too if I’m sticking around. I generally avoid the New Age and Religion sections. Books-a-Million has a discount section that I never find anything interesting in so generally don’t bother with.

I buy few books though and generally know I’m going to buy it before I arrive so I don’t always just browse. Most of my reading comes from the library. Though I generally know what I’m going to get before I go there too.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:08:55 +0000

Assuming I don’t have family tapping their feet in agitation, arms crossed, waiting for me to get a clue on how much time I’ve spent wandering around with that look of discovery painted across my face; I’ll generally take this approach:
1) The bargain sections: looking for good deals on books I’ve thought about getting before, or books I might never have considered, but might now be worth a try.
2) The new books: For some reason, I rarely buy anything from these sections, but it’s good to see what’s being promoted.
3) Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Of course.
4) Fiction/Literature: I’ve begun buying more from this section over the last few years, but a lot of it has speculative/fantastic influences as well.
5) Writing: I counted the number of books on writing that I’ve purchased over the years and I currently have over sixty. It’s kind of a hobby. And yes, Jeff, I’ll buy yours when it comes out, even though I got the pdf version from you. (By the way, did you see that you made Nancy Kress feel guilty?)
6) History
7) Philosophy/Religion
8) Science
9) Psychology

Areas I avoid at all costs: Romance, Cookbooks