- Joseph Conrad, Almayer's Folly (Oxford pb) (Book Store)
- Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (Penguin pb) -- It was announced the other day that Conkey's, a long-time independent bookstore in downtown Appleton, was shutting its doors. Conkey's had handled textbooks for Lawrence University and Fox Valley Technical College, but recently lost the latter contract, which accounted for about 50% of its sales, to Barnes & Noble in a competitive bidding process (low bid took it). I have mixed feelings about this. It is supposed to a litterateur's reflex to mourn the loss of an independent bookstore, but I hardly ever bought at Conkey's. The staff was not ingratiating, and most everything was at full price (and I don't pay retail). I get such great deals at Amazon, Bookfinder, etc., that it is hard for me to see how brick-and-mortar stores specializing in new books, other than perhaps the mega-chains, can survive (and even Borders is said to be hurting). I mourn second-hand bookshops more, and was recently saddened to see the excellent Mike Plonsker Books in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, shut down (although not before I bought a big stack o' books at the going-out-of-business sale). But their days too are numbered, outside a very few favorable selling situations: some (but hardly all) college towns, a handful of vacation areas (Door County has three fine second-hand shops). I am most apt to but at second-hand shops when their prices are quite low, and they have occasional sales that lower them still further. Otherwise I can just check Bookfinder to compare all the copies of a title available from online sellers for both pricing and condition, and make an informed decision. I am always bargaining mentally, even if sellers aren't aware of it, and I'm a tough bargainer. Physical stores don't stand much of a chance against buyers like me in this day and age. (Conkey's, clearance)
- Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Oxford pb) (Conkey's, clearance)
- Lewis Namier, Avenues of History (Hamish Hamilton hc) -- This is one of those books I had out from the library (on the recommendation of Bernard Bailyn, who mentions Namier warmly in several of his works), but I didn't finish it in the alloted time, so I was happy to puchase a copy of my own. It was nice to find this 1952 UK volume with a dust-jacket! (Amazon, used)
- Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer (Oxford pb) -- Widely considered to be the greatest of all Gothic novels. (HPB)
- Robert B. Parker, Passport to Peril (Hard Case Crime pb) (Hard Case Crime Book Club)
- Thomas Fleming, Liberty! The American Revolution (Viking pb) -- Companion volume to a PBS series, with excellent illustrations. I read a similar illustrated volume, Bart McDowell's The Revolutionary War from the National Geographic Society, when I was very young, and it got me hooked on that period of history.
- William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew (Caedmon, 2 LPs and booklet) (Ebay)
- William Shakespeare, Othello ( Argo, 4 LPs) (Ebay)
POSTSCRIPT: An advantage of shopping online (or in a national chain store, although the selection is typically much less) is that it is attended by no feeling of obligation to buy anything; whereas when I go into an independent bookstore or clothing store, I feel that not buying something is rude; I can detect the store owner's disappointment if I don't. I don't much like that feeling of obligation, and I'll bet a lot of people don't; when we talk about the "de-personalization" of modern life, we tend to forget that it has its upside.
There is a charming independent men's clothier near me that regularly sends me $50.00 off coupons for purchases of $100.00 or more. I'm tempted to use them, but I know that I would make a purchase just a smidge above the $100.00 minimum, which would disappoint the two owners, who really want customers to use those coupons on $500.00 purchases. So I don't use the coupons. Sometimes the calculus of shopping when you know a store owner personally is just too complicated -- if you're not rich enough to fling your money around.
