I think I will muse this Monday.

Well, I have seen the Musing Monday meme around, so I thought this week I would join it. So, this week's question...
How do you choose what do buy from your local bookstore? Do you have a list, or just browse? What is the selection in your book store like? Do you find what you're looking for? Do you feel pressured to buy the kind of books the store makes prominent?

Well, the first problem is that I don't really have a local bookstore. Not an independent bookstore, so the two nearest bookstores are chain stores. One, a smaller local chain and then one of the BIG chains. The smaller chain store is someplace I might drop into if I was nearby, but not make a trip to. They carry a lot of discounted remainder books and sometimes you can find a bargain and then they always have the bestsellers. Beyond that forget it. Pretty hit and miss.

And then you have the BIG chain store of which I have spoken before. A nice place to waste some time, have a cuppa tea and a cookie, glance at the magazines, listen to some music...oh, and yes, they do have some books. It seems fewer and fewer books all the time, since they seem to need to make room for greeting cards and stationary and gifts and CDs and all sorts of non book items. Which is their prerogative...but if I am looking for a specific book, I have found from experience they may well not have it. A bestseller, yes; a big classic, most likely, but often a cheap edition and beyond that, don't get your hopes up. If I am looking for a specific book or a specific edition, most likely I will end up getting it from Amazon.

Do I have a list? No....I can't even remember the list for the supermarket, let alone for books. I tend to find books that I want online, from other's reviews and such and just go and search for it online right then. A list of wanted books is too organized and I hate the delayed gratification.

I never feel pressured to buy what they have on display. Just as I don't feel pressured to buy what Oprah is pushing or what 'everyone' is reading. I often find that the books 'everyone' loves are not really my cup of tea. So I tend to pass those tables by...quickly...to see what might be hidden off in a corner.

Of course, I shouldn't really be buying any books, since I have enough for quite awhile right here...lol