strand vs. sf bookstores
as i wait for the car service company to call me back at work, i thouht i should take this time to add another entry to my blog. i love to read, and there's nothing i enjoy more than picking up a used book at a discounted price. i was well acquanted with all of the many used book stores in sf, and hoped to find more of the same here in nyc. the strand bookstore came highly recommended, but it's been a disappointment my first few trips there. my thoughts:
the strand (one huge store) vs. sf bookstores (many little stores)
-- location --
the strand is conveniently located nearby in the east village, only a short walk away, whereas the bookstores in sf were spread all throughout the city.
winner: strand
-- selection --
although the strand has "18 miles of books", many are just the same books in massive quantities. in addition, i've found their used book selection to be especially weak when compared to the variety in sf. if one store doesn't have it, another will.
winner: sf bookstores
-- service --
i get a little of the superstore feeling at the strand, and i really prefer a small store feel when i buy my used books (otherwise i'd just buy books off amazon). it's nice when you can have a conversation with the people at the bookstore and get their opinions/recommendations and not feel rushed. the employees in sf also just seem to know the store/books better.
winner: sf bookstores
-- price --
like i said earlier, it's been tough finding the used books i want at the strand. they have numerous discount books, but it's like at borders where you really don't want most of what's on sale. i want to be able to buy recent, popular books now for a discounted price. in sf you may have to do some searching, but usually you'll find what you are looking for.
winner: sf bookstores
as you can see, sf bookstores win easily. maybe it'll just take some time for me to find the small independent used bookstores out here...
8 comments:
It's like comparing a bodega to an Albertson's or Vons, I'm sure you can find much smaller ones in the city. I still don't like Strand that much, I prefer Amazon, but then again, I'm never really on a hunt for obscure books.
Hey, I bought the www.foodite.com domain, it was only 2.99/yr on Yahoo, but there's a catch, if you want your name and address to be private, its another 9.99.
How was the show that you saw with Tommy and Sanjeet? Did you see Spam-a-lot?
i disagree. sf bookstores/B&N is more like bodega/Albertson's. the strand is in-between, it's supposed to be a monster used-book store.
i wouldn't even know what domain i would want. i've spent some time in the past thinking about it (esp when i was doing alot of website stuff at build), but never came up with anything.
we ended up just going out to dinner (as my blog states), as most shows were sold out and i think they were pretty tired from sightseeing all day.
what do you have planned for the weekend?
Oh, that's too bad, I thought you just didn't write about the show. I signed up for that evite that you sent me for Taj and I got free tickets to some show called Hilda so I might be going to that tomorrow night if the weather is cooperating tomorrow - another storm is supposed to roll in on Friday.
You should just order www.mikwu.com its only $10, might as well while it's available.
hi michael!
just wanted to say hello on your new blog. i know that we've had many conversations about my dislike of blogs and online journals, but i hope you keep updating so i how your new life is going. miss you!
Here is Da Gu Gu. I like this site to get a whiff of your comings and goings in the Big City. Keep up with the good work!
Da Gu Zhang says Hi!
mike, in an attempt to defend strand, i found 2 books that i really wanted, one at the financial district branch and one at the 13th st one. both were at least half off the cover price, and they're not the most popular books: The Social Transformation of American Medicine ($23 - got it for $6), and Infections and Inequalities ($18 - got it for $9). i like strand just because i was able to find those books and for so cheap (after being in oc for a month, i couldn't find any of those books in the chain stores, so it was a welcome relief). but i hear what you're saying about it not feeling very cozy as a so-called independent book store. more like a zoo.
good counterpoint francis. sorry i never got around to asking for the ok to link to your blog. i hope that's ok. maybe i'm just bitter because i was unable to find any of the books on my short list when i went.
Post a Comment