booking through thursday: doomsday

What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an internet shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?

My number one book source is probably the internet, and if the internet vanished I’d have bigger problems than just losing my favorite source of books. I use Amazon, email to request/receive ARCs and review copies from publishers, and LibraryThing gives me virtually my entire wishlist. On the other hand, if the internet went down for a while, I’d get a lot of reading done. I have about a year’s worth of books, maybe a little less, on Mt. TBR. I use the internet for many other things, though, at least one of which is actually more important to me than my book supply. Shocking, I know!

My favorite bookstore is probably my local Barnes and Noble, mostly for nostalgic and atmospheric reasons, but I hardly ever buy books there. If it burned down, I’d be sad that my favorite childhood destination for book browsing was gone, but it wouldn’t actually affect me all that much. My newest favorite bookstore is a charity bookshop associated with a local hospital. It’s the only nearby used bookstore and it is brilliant. I’d be sad if it burned down because I can’t get $2 nearly new books anywhere else. I’d probably trawl Amazon for more used books instead, now that I’ve gotten used to a steady supply of my choosing. Or maybe I’d go to the library – I haven’t been there in a while.

Just a reminder – I am hosting a giveaway of Surviving Ben’s Suicide by C. Comfort Shields! If you haven’t entered yet, check it out here! It’s my first giveaway, so please take a look!