Bookstores and Browsing for Your Next Book

Book Question: What is your favorite section of the bookstore?

One thing that makes a real (brick and mortar) bookstore more fun to shop than an online store is the ability to wander around and discover things. That's a lot harder to do online.

Sometimes I go to the bookstore looking for something specific. If I've read about a book or there's a new movie coming out and I've heard about the book it's based on, for instance. Or someone has mentioned a book.

Other times I go to the bookstore to browse.

I like science fiction so I often start there. I also like biographies so often I will browse there, too.

But at my favorite bookstore, which is an independent bookseller, as soon as you walk in the door you are welcomed by the new-book table, and I always stop there first. I never know when I will discover something interesting, something I might never have thought of had I not run into it there.

Just beyond the new-book table is the best-seller shelf. It's often fun to see what most other people are reading, and that often (although not always) is a good indication of a good read. Attached to it is the new-in-fiction and new-in-nonfiction shelf, not to be confused with new-book table. The new-book table is what is hot out of the publisher, whereas the others are considered still new in the market. They're selling well enough to still be selling well, so they are also a good indication of what other readers find good reading.

Most of those are new hard-bound books. Nearby are the new paperbacks. New paperbacks can be brand new to the market but may also include hard-bound books reintroduced in the cheaper paperback versions, either the pocket size or the larger mass-market size.

Probably one of the most interesting sections to visit is the book club section. It can be a good indication of what other people are reading and talking about. If you want to know what people at work or in the neighborhood may be talking about, these books may be some of the topics. And they may be really good reads. I've found some great books this way.

Sometimes I'm already reading a book or two, so I don't need another one on the nightstand. Instead, I head to the magazine section. I often go to the bookstore with my daughter and while she is browsing the store, I peruse magazines. There are still hundreds of great magazines covering every interest, and in most bookstores you can sit down in a comfortable chair or at the coffee shoppe and read. No matter your interest, you can find something intriguing to read in a magazine - usually something you can read during a short visit.

What is your favorite section of a bookstore? How do you "browse" online?

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Too Many Books, Too Few Hours to Read?

Book Questions*: Bad Book Habits

I think most bibliophiles or book nerds can probably identify with this one: buying too many books at one time, or even, checking out too many books at once from the library.

During a recent visit to the library I saw a woman hauling a canvas shopping bag on a wheeled cart, and the bag was full of books. Now, maybe she had a family to feed with books, but that looked suspiciously to me like reading overload.

When I worked at a bookstore, one of the benefits was a 33 percent discount on all book purchases. Plus, at the end of each month we received a certificate for so much value toward the purchase of books based on how many hours we worked that month: example, $10 or $30 or so. You can imagine how many books employees bought there every month - too many.

In addition, publishers sent representatives to the bookstore to present upcoming releases who brought samples, of which we could take our pick.

I was never for want of books, and I usually had too many books and never enough time to read them all, especially when you consider that bookselling was a part-time job for me and that I spent the rest of my professional time writing, editing, and trying to run an editorial business.

Most people I know who are readers suffer from the same malady: They see far more books they want to read than they can possibly consume in a reasonable amount of time. Thousands of books are published every month! (Forbes said there are between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published ever year.)

Now that I'm retired and don't have the money to spend on books, I don't buy books like I used to. I occasionally put holds on library books that arrive at the same time and suffer a rushed read, but that's rare. When I do buy books, I buy ones that are special to me. And that saves a lot of shelf space.

There is something about books that encourages a kind of readers' gluttony. Do you suffer this tendency as well? What do you do about it?

*One more inspiration from "55 questions about reading."

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Paper or Ebook - Which Is Better?

Book Questions: Why I prefer paper books

I have Kindle and OverDrive loaded on a tablet, and there's no doubt about it, ebooks are cheaper to buy and easier to store. But ebooks also come with a number of issues that paper books do not, which add to the reasons I prefer paper over electronic. But first, the main reasons I prefer paper.

You don't have to be old fashioned to prefer paper. I like the feel and dexterity of paper books, and anyone of any age can enjoy that. I also like the smell of paper books - the smell of the paper, the bindings, and the ink. Compare that with the smell of heated plastic and electronics. And I like the color and graphics of the covers (paperbacks) and jackets (hard cover) - yes, ebooks have "covers" but only on the first page and only when you open the book, not when your device is sitting on the shelf or table or wherever it sits unopened.

In addition, paper books have weight or heft, and flipping through the pages is easy - in fact, flipping back and forth through pages without getting lost is much easier in paper than in electronic versions. If you are doing research, it's much easier to bookmark pages and easily find where you've left the bookmarks than in an electronic version.

I also like browsing my collection of books on my bookshelf and quickly pulling a book off the shelf, unlike trying to find one hidden in an electronic archive. Somehow, the electronic versions also lack substance - they're just a flat, featureless front page.

Now to the problems with ebooks.

Although you can adjust the dimness of ebooks or even reverse the black and white screen, I find ebooks uncomfortable to read, especially at night. That's because the screen is lighted from behind rather than by reflecting from an absorbing surface like paper. It's harsh on the eyes and has been implicated in cases of insomnia.

Also, if you've ever accidentally touched the wrong part of the screen when trying to turn the page, you can get sent to footnotes or far back into the book, unsure where you left off - that never happens with a paper book. When it happens with an ebook, it can also throw off the pagination.

Furthermore, different ebook readers can operate differently, and different authors and publishers use different ereaders, so it can be challenging to use all the different readers. Again, you don't have that problem with paper books.

Then there's battery life - ever have a paper book need recharging just when you got to the most exciting part of the story?

And there's that initial cost of buying the Kindle, Nook, or tablet!

In their defense, ebooks save space, Amazon Prime offers free books monthly for Kindle owners and Barnes and Noble offers free books for the Nook, library downloads are quick and easy and save on late fees, and ebooks save trees from slaughter.

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Do Books Ever Start on the Same Page Number?

Book Questions: Who decides on what page number books start?

Have you noticed that books often start on random-seeming page numbers?

My favorite historical fiction author is Julian Stockwin. In Victory, he begins chapter 1 on page 9, which is nine printed pages in from the front of the book. Chapter 1 of Pasha, his most recent age-of-sail book, begins on page 15, which again is fifteen pages from the front of the book. His paperback version of Seaflower begins chapter 1 on page 1, even though there are printed pages beforehand. In the uncorrected advanced proof of Stockwin's Tyger, to be released in October, chapter 1 starts out on page 1, even though there are printed pages beforehand - I have no idea how the final printed version of the book will paginate.

It's not without precedent. My paperback version of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird begins the story in chapter 1 on page 3, with man printed pages beforehand. Mitch Album's best seller Tuesdays with Morrie (1997) begins the story on page 1. Yann Martel's Life of Pi begins on page 3.

My favorite humor author, Christopher Moore, begins such stories as Lamb, Fluke, and The Stupedist Angel on page 1, as would I expect him to do in his new novel out August 25, Secondhand Souls. "I always start with 1. It's how I roll," he says.

However, there are book style guides, such as The Chicago Manual of Style, that recommend that the first page of text be page 1 (except for excessive front matter like forewards, which they prefer lower case roman numbers).

So who gets to make the decision about which page number starts the book? "Book layout is down to the designer chosen by the publisher," says Stockwin, whose books publish around the world. "Generally the meat of a book will begin on page 1 but this can vary, depending on house style of a particular publisher."

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

One Book You've Read More Than Once

Book Questions*: One Book You've Read More Than Once

I've never been one to re-read books much. I keep a collection of books that I most love from having read them, and a few of them I have re-read.

• Certain Sherlock Holmes books and the Holmes doppelganger Solar Pons, for instance. 
• A book or two that I had a hard time getting through the first time or few, like Isaac Asimov's Foundation.
• Some science fiction by Larry Niven before I outgrew him.

But the books that I can earnestly say that I have re-read several times because they are beautiful and imaginative and soulful and breathtaking are the books by J.R.R. Tolkein, in particular, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I've re-read The Hobbit a couple of times, but I don't find it as thrilling as The Lord of the Rings, even though it was the precursor and the build up to The Lord of the Rings.

The late actor Christopher Lee, who played the white sorcerer Sauroman in the Peter Jackson film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, re-read the trilogy yearly.

There are books that I am considering re-reading one day soon. I have a hard time re-reading because I don't like to revisit territory I have already covered, unless they are considerably well written. These are what I am thinking of devoting my fall and winter to re-reading this year:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Life of Pi
• Thomas Kydd series (all 16 books!)
• Horatio Hornblower series (all 11 books!}

But then, I also want to leave some room in my free time for new books.

*Inspired by "Ten Questions About Books."

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.