My main memory of Foyles (1970s) was a very convoluted system for paying. Something about getting a piece of paper that you took to the cashier (nowhere nearby) and waiting a long time and then taking a note back to where they were holding the book for you. It took more time than all the book browsing and meant I began to avoid going there.
I remember that! And the staff were a bit snooty. However they often had academic books you couldn't get elsewhere, so we put up with it (and were rather thankful when the Internet arrived!)
I grew up when bookstores were everywhere and there seemed to be many more readers than not. When Borders first arrived on the scene in my area, its stores offered a wonderful selection of books, and I visited probably once a week. What made Borders stand out initially were very knowledgeable staff and their quick-ordering system. I never cared much for the stock at Barnes & Noble, a long-time competitor, but it remains one of the few brick-and-mortar bookstores still in the Washington, D.C., area. In New York, I always try to go to the Strand, where piles of books are piled on piles of books. Increasingly I frequent used book stores, where treasures, such as artists books, can be found, but admit I go online to find and sometimes order from them, especially poetry and fine art catalogues, biographies, music, and performing arts. The internet, I think it's safe to say, changed the publishing and distribution system, and one result has been that fewer and fewer brick-and-mortar bookstores made sufficient profit to stay in business. I think that today, children especially don't have the opportunities I and my son had -- to make an outing of going to a bookstore, spending time listening to and getting to meet authors, making reading discoveries that are adventures, and learning about other cultures. The bookstores of our generations were places to socialize, enjoy a cup of coffee and good conversation, to share stories, to become immersed in the world's stories, to better educate oneself. I miss the stores and the bookmobiles.
Thank you, Maureen, for that reflection! I remember taking my kids to bookshops, never failing to come away considerably poorer. But while living in London, we also used to go to the local library, which had so many great books for free! When I first came to Japan in the 90s, in Kyoto, I remember a small unstaffed mobile library in a local park, which was delightful. I haven't seen on ein Tokyo, though.
This made me sad. For me, time spent in a bookshop is a real luxury and I try to ration it, as I don't think I have EVER exited without at least one purchase. For some reason my brain seems to think that books should be bought in threes. When I am on holiday in a non-English speaking country, I pine for a bookshop. When my three children were little and I had a busy career, one year my birthday present was to be allowed an hour in a bookshop ON MY OWN! So, Geoffrey, I do hope you discover this is just a phase and you come out the other side...
It’s been years since I would browse in a bookshop, waiting to be ambushed by a book or two or half a dozen that I simply had to read. Before a transatlantic flight, I’d fill a bag with books for every mood that might arise on the journey. I rarely finished most of this bounty, and my shelves overflow. I’m more distractible and read fewer books. My books mostly come from the library now. I do wonder: Where did Flaubert get his books?
My e-reader is my long-haul stalwart, though I always have a couple of physical books just in case, including a book of poetry. Good question about Flaubert. I'm guessing he had his books delivered. Or did he inherit a library?
There's a lot to relate to here, Jeffrey. This in particular struck a chord, "I’ve found myself being simultaneously spoilt for choice and dismayed by the lack of it." I fear many of us feel this way when we're surrounded by eye-catching displays and piles of market-friendly book covers and staff recommendations!
Like you, the lack of English bookstores has "forced" me to turn to using an e-book, more specifically, a Kindle. Which, I have to say, I love because it can hold so much and take up little to no space. And while I love the idea of having an Instagram-worthy bookshelf, I'm with you, there's something about not having a ton of STUFF.
That being said, I miss libraries! 📚 Thanks for a wonderfully observational essay, Jeffrey!
Thank you, Lani! I've just started using a Kobo, as my ancient Kindle couldn't read epub books which I understand to be the current standard format and available outside Amazon. I think new Kindles can read it too but it felt like time for a change.
Do you use book boxes, where people leave and pick up random books left by their neighbours? Everyone who uses them could easily go to a charity shop or bookshop instead, but I suspect we're all overwhelmed by the crisis of choice you describe, and are opting instead for a bit of serendipity.
I never warmed to Foyles even though I love bookshops! I understand the appeal of saving bookshelf space with e-readers but I recently discovered that it feels like I have nit read the texts unless I have got real pages to show for it! Digital reading takes away so much.
I'm a book and bookstore lover. I consider myself both lucky and unlucky for living in Japan. Unlucky because, like you, my Japanese reading skills are not good enough; lucky because if I lived, say, in London, I would spend outrageous amounts of time and money in bookstores.
It's a funny thing about money and books. As a student, I blew a good percentage of my meagre supply of money on books. Now, I find myself quite parsimonious when it comes to buying them. Thank heavens for Project Gutenberg and free ebooks of older works! I can dabble in books I'd never buy and certainly wouldn't have room for.
I know. There was a time when I thought nothing of spending 1,500 yen at the movies. I still prefer watching a film on the big screen, but I'm just content with free online streaming.
I have a strong suspicion you are not alone in your preference for audibles Jeffrey. I have mixed feelings, I love the practicality of being able to listen to my favourite writers here on Substack and others both known and unknown while I work my way through necessary chores but I also love the feeling of a book in my hands, the anticipation of what secrets and wonders the words will reveal. I always read before sleep. I believe it to be calming, an emptying of the mind, lifting the troubles and stresses of the day, hence aiding in a more peaceful sleep. I do not find this same calm in listening to an audible.
I should add perhaps, I can't resist a bookshop! Not that huge stores adoring well known shopping streets and centres but the dusty kind, hidden at the end of cobbled streets where only those who know venture!
Intriguing, Jeffrey. I’m realizing as I read that I too have changed my relationship with bookshops. It’s true, at least, that I haven’t frequented one for quite some time.
And other than books written by writers I know and love “in person” (or online), I for sure prefer audible book consuming these days.
I “read” by audio a lot. It’s sadly crowding out my time for music. But driving and household chores are “reading” time these days. So much stuff I want to read!
Lovely piece! I do enjoy a good browse in a bookshop, but it's become something of a guilty pleasure, much like going into a sweetshop. I still possess a lot of printed books, despite numerous cullings over the years, and I don't need more actual books. So I compromise by buying ebooks the majority of the time (it's easier to cull them, somehow) and I only buy physical books if they are highly illustrated and works of art in themselves
My own response to large London bookshops is very different from yours. I am autistic and have ADHD. After my diagnosis, I realised why I spent many hours in such shops and yet bought very little. I realised that they were my safe space, where I go to recover from sensory overload.
A point on lending libraries; I think that in many places they have been quietly replaced by charity shops, at least where genre fiction such as crime is concerned.
I have never used an e-reader of any kind, but I am beginning to wonder if it is time. Our books fill the house, and pile up on surfaces. I try to cull my fiction and keep only books I love but I still had to buy a second bookcase for the bedroom. I fool myself that buying second hand is more sustainable than buying new... Is there an e-reader that you would recommend?
I know the feeling about books taking up space! I began using an e-reader years ago, when Kindle seemed the only choice. I've just bought a Kobo, after some research. This allows me to use .PUB files which I gather is the industry standard. Amazon uses a different format, but newer Kindles can read . PUB files. The Kobo Libra Colour is really easy to use and I'm enjoying reading on it. It feels good to be outside the Amazon ecosystem, too!
I worked at a bookshop all through my highschool and some of my university years. it was a chain one and it held little magic for me at the end. But I'm lucky to be surrounded by excellent independent book stores in my humble city and I still adore wandering around them. I imagine the language barrier is a formidable issue. I also love my local library, and retreat there for comfort amongst the books when life is too much, or I want to cool off in the free air-con.
Thanks, Evelyn. I envy you a local library where you can read the books! 😊 The libraries here are pretty good, and I think they are used partly the same way you describe, too.
The bookmobile was key to my childhood reading and in its way introduced me to libraries first and then when I could afford to do so: the bookstore. But, lately, most are gone and the ones that remain are in airports.
Julian Barnes remains a favorite. Most recently _Levels of Life_. Thank you for the link to his article.
Unlike you, I have a personal library of over 3,000 books and hold them dear and built the bookshelves into a small apartment and later a home. I feel lost without them, but perhaps that will change with more time.
Thanks for that comment, Mary. 3,000 is a lot! Some of the books – perhaps most – of the books I have left I may never read again. But I keep them partly because they remind me of certain times in my life.
My main memory of Foyles (1970s) was a very convoluted system for paying. Something about getting a piece of paper that you took to the cashier (nowhere nearby) and waiting a long time and then taking a note back to where they were holding the book for you. It took more time than all the book browsing and meant I began to avoid going there.
I can see why you'd avoid such a place! I've come across that kind of system in shops in many countries, but rarely in the UK.
I agree. Especially awful in a bookshop, which is probably why I remember it.
I remember that! And the staff were a bit snooty. However they often had academic books you couldn't get elsewhere, so we put up with it (and were rather thankful when the Internet arrived!)
Yes, snooty is the right word.
Yes, It was truly off putting and a pain!
I grew up when bookstores were everywhere and there seemed to be many more readers than not. When Borders first arrived on the scene in my area, its stores offered a wonderful selection of books, and I visited probably once a week. What made Borders stand out initially were very knowledgeable staff and their quick-ordering system. I never cared much for the stock at Barnes & Noble, a long-time competitor, but it remains one of the few brick-and-mortar bookstores still in the Washington, D.C., area. In New York, I always try to go to the Strand, where piles of books are piled on piles of books. Increasingly I frequent used book stores, where treasures, such as artists books, can be found, but admit I go online to find and sometimes order from them, especially poetry and fine art catalogues, biographies, music, and performing arts. The internet, I think it's safe to say, changed the publishing and distribution system, and one result has been that fewer and fewer brick-and-mortar bookstores made sufficient profit to stay in business. I think that today, children especially don't have the opportunities I and my son had -- to make an outing of going to a bookstore, spending time listening to and getting to meet authors, making reading discoveries that are adventures, and learning about other cultures. The bookstores of our generations were places to socialize, enjoy a cup of coffee and good conversation, to share stories, to become immersed in the world's stories, to better educate oneself. I miss the stores and the bookmobiles.
Thank you, Maureen, for that reflection! I remember taking my kids to bookshops, never failing to come away considerably poorer. But while living in London, we also used to go to the local library, which had so many great books for free! When I first came to Japan in the 90s, in Kyoto, I remember a small unstaffed mobile library in a local park, which was delightful. I haven't seen on ein Tokyo, though.
This made me sad. For me, time spent in a bookshop is a real luxury and I try to ration it, as I don't think I have EVER exited without at least one purchase. For some reason my brain seems to think that books should be bought in threes. When I am on holiday in a non-English speaking country, I pine for a bookshop. When my three children were little and I had a busy career, one year my birthday present was to be allowed an hour in a bookshop ON MY OWN! So, Geoffrey, I do hope you discover this is just a phase and you come out the other side...
I love the idea of getting an hour alone in a bookshop as a birthday present! Thank you for sharing that, Sarah.
It’s been years since I would browse in a bookshop, waiting to be ambushed by a book or two or half a dozen that I simply had to read. Before a transatlantic flight, I’d fill a bag with books for every mood that might arise on the journey. I rarely finished most of this bounty, and my shelves overflow. I’m more distractible and read fewer books. My books mostly come from the library now. I do wonder: Where did Flaubert get his books?
My e-reader is my long-haul stalwart, though I always have a couple of physical books just in case, including a book of poetry. Good question about Flaubert. I'm guessing he had his books delivered. Or did he inherit a library?
There's a lot to relate to here, Jeffrey. This in particular struck a chord, "I’ve found myself being simultaneously spoilt for choice and dismayed by the lack of it." I fear many of us feel this way when we're surrounded by eye-catching displays and piles of market-friendly book covers and staff recommendations!
Like you, the lack of English bookstores has "forced" me to turn to using an e-book, more specifically, a Kindle. Which, I have to say, I love because it can hold so much and take up little to no space. And while I love the idea of having an Instagram-worthy bookshelf, I'm with you, there's something about not having a ton of STUFF.
That being said, I miss libraries! 📚 Thanks for a wonderfully observational essay, Jeffrey!
Thank you, Lani! I've just started using a Kobo, as my ancient Kindle couldn't read epub books which I understand to be the current standard format and available outside Amazon. I think new Kindles can read it too but it felt like time for a change.
Nice, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.
Do you use book boxes, where people leave and pick up random books left by their neighbours? Everyone who uses them could easily go to a charity shop or bookshop instead, but I suspect we're all overwhelmed by the crisis of choice you describe, and are opting instead for a bit of serendipity.
I've not seen that practice here in Japan. I do know there's an active market in secondhand books here though.
I never warmed to Foyles even though I love bookshops! I understand the appeal of saving bookshelf space with e-readers but I recently discovered that it feels like I have nit read the texts unless I have got real pages to show for it! Digital reading takes away so much.
What a sad ending!
I'm a book and bookstore lover. I consider myself both lucky and unlucky for living in Japan. Unlucky because, like you, my Japanese reading skills are not good enough; lucky because if I lived, say, in London, I would spend outrageous amounts of time and money in bookstores.
It's a funny thing about money and books. As a student, I blew a good percentage of my meagre supply of money on books. Now, I find myself quite parsimonious when it comes to buying them. Thank heavens for Project Gutenberg and free ebooks of older works! I can dabble in books I'd never buy and certainly wouldn't have room for.
I know. There was a time when I thought nothing of spending 1,500 yen at the movies. I still prefer watching a film on the big screen, but I'm just content with free online streaming.
I have a strong suspicion you are not alone in your preference for audibles Jeffrey. I have mixed feelings, I love the practicality of being able to listen to my favourite writers here on Substack and others both known and unknown while I work my way through necessary chores but I also love the feeling of a book in my hands, the anticipation of what secrets and wonders the words will reveal. I always read before sleep. I believe it to be calming, an emptying of the mind, lifting the troubles and stresses of the day, hence aiding in a more peaceful sleep. I do not find this same calm in listening to an audible.
I agree that reading before sleep is very relaxing. I do remember falling asleep to the radio when a student though, all those centuries ago!
I should add perhaps, I can't resist a bookshop! Not that huge stores adoring well known shopping streets and centres but the dusty kind, hidden at the end of cobbled streets where only those who know venture!
Intriguing, Jeffrey. I’m realizing as I read that I too have changed my relationship with bookshops. It’s true, at least, that I haven’t frequented one for quite some time.
And other than books written by writers I know and love “in person” (or online), I for sure prefer audible book consuming these days.
I'd like to “read” audiobooks too. But I find it hard to make time for listening, other than to music. I don't listen to podcasts either.
I “read” by audio a lot. It’s sadly crowding out my time for music. But driving and household chores are “reading” time these days. So much stuff I want to read!
Lovely piece! I do enjoy a good browse in a bookshop, but it's become something of a guilty pleasure, much like going into a sweetshop. I still possess a lot of printed books, despite numerous cullings over the years, and I don't need more actual books. So I compromise by buying ebooks the majority of the time (it's easier to cull them, somehow) and I only buy physical books if they are highly illustrated and works of art in themselves
Thank you, Gaynor! The physical books I still occasionally buy, glancing apologetically at my overcrowded bookcase, are poetry collections.
I read eBooks all the time now, even large garden books (on a laptop).
And the house is still full of books.
I've had to be ruthless with my books, moving from country to country.
My own response to large London bookshops is very different from yours. I am autistic and have ADHD. After my diagnosis, I realised why I spent many hours in such shops and yet bought very little. I realised that they were my safe space, where I go to recover from sensory overload.
A point on lending libraries; I think that in many places they have been quietly replaced by charity shops, at least where genre fiction such as crime is concerned.
Good point about charity shops. My mother used to volunteer for one and was always buying and exchanging their books.
I get how bookshops could be a safe place,though I hadn't thought of them that way.
I have never used an e-reader of any kind, but I am beginning to wonder if it is time. Our books fill the house, and pile up on surfaces. I try to cull my fiction and keep only books I love but I still had to buy a second bookcase for the bedroom. I fool myself that buying second hand is more sustainable than buying new... Is there an e-reader that you would recommend?
I know the feeling about books taking up space! I began using an e-reader years ago, when Kindle seemed the only choice. I've just bought a Kobo, after some research. This allows me to use .PUB files which I gather is the industry standard. Amazon uses a different format, but newer Kindles can read . PUB files. The Kobo Libra Colour is really easy to use and I'm enjoying reading on it. It feels good to be outside the Amazon ecosystem, too!
Thanks. I’ll start researching.
Good luck and if you have any questions, happy to try to answer them!
I worked at a bookshop all through my highschool and some of my university years. it was a chain one and it held little magic for me at the end. But I'm lucky to be surrounded by excellent independent book stores in my humble city and I still adore wandering around them. I imagine the language barrier is a formidable issue. I also love my local library, and retreat there for comfort amongst the books when life is too much, or I want to cool off in the free air-con.
Thanks, Evelyn. I envy you a local library where you can read the books! 😊 The libraries here are pretty good, and I think they are used partly the same way you describe, too.
Libraries are an invaluable resource thats for sure, especially here in summer when its 40 degrees and I need a place to hide from the sun
The bookmobile was key to my childhood reading and in its way introduced me to libraries first and then when I could afford to do so: the bookstore. But, lately, most are gone and the ones that remain are in airports.
Julian Barnes remains a favorite. Most recently _Levels of Life_. Thank you for the link to his article.
Unlike you, I have a personal library of over 3,000 books and hold them dear and built the bookshelves into a small apartment and later a home. I feel lost without them, but perhaps that will change with more time.
Thanks for that comment, Mary. 3,000 is a lot! Some of the books – perhaps most – of the books I have left I may never read again. But I keep them partly because they remind me of certain times in my life.