Where Do You Shop for Books?

My publisher posted some statistics today (taken from a Publisher’s Weekly article, I believe, but I can’t find it to link it) about declining sales in brick and mortar book stores. In August, bookstore sales were down about 5% – a continuing trend from earlier in the year. It got me thinking about where I buy books…and I have to admit, I’m part of the problem. The last time I was in an actual, physical bookstore was before Borders closed. I loved our Borders – it was right on the road I drive down every day (or nearly every day) and we’d pop in there all the time and hardly ever walk out without spending at least $50. It wasn’t my fault they closed.

But now that they’re gone, the closest bookstore that actually carries books (we have two independent Christian bookstores nearby and they have one wall of books, the rest of the decent sized strip-mall locations are tchotchkes) is 25 miles away. And no, that’s not a crazy distance – but the way the roads are here, it’s a 40 to 45 minute drive over there. And I’m just not going to make that kind of a trip simply to browse books. Not when I now have a Kindle (purchased when Borders went bye-bye) and Amazon at the tips of my fingers. Throw in Prime shipping for the times I want a physical book, Amazon’s new program where if you buy the dead tree version you can get an e-book for a steep discount and, well…online shopping here I come.

I’m sad, I guess, to lose bookstores – at least to some extent. There’s something about being able to walk up and down rows and rows of books and touch/smell/taste (well, not taste, but read a snippet here or there – that’s a book taste) as many books as you want. I loved grabbing a coffee and wandering the aisles. I discovered tons of new-to-me authors that way (and that’s one thing I definitely miss with Amazon. Yes, they have the recommendations – and those are sometimes good…but not always.) But the rest? I don’t know.

Have your book buying habits changed over the last few years? Where do you shop for books?