tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18631760.post-86365663031583188252008-04-11T11:45:00.007-05:002008-04-11T12:01:16.087-05:00<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;">When I travel - for business or pleasure - I try to find "the local bookstore." I'm not talking about the <em>Borders</em> or B&amp;Ns. Not even the "half price" chains. I'm talking about the little hole-in-the-wall places that have books stacked to the ceiling; boxes of books that in any other store would be tripping hazards; books stacked two or three deep on a shelf.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;">I'm talking about the bookstores where the proprietors are behind the counter reading Faulkner or Joyce while their 17-year-old tabby sits on a stool in the Biography section.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;">I'm talking about the bookstores where, when you approach the counter with a rare (but not valuable) paperback copy of Asimov's <em>The Gods Themselves</em> priced at $1.50, the same proprietor compliments you on a fantastic find.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;">These bookstores have a personality. The smell of old paper. The coziness of 14-inch wide aisles. The low hum of traffic outside the only reminder that you haven't died and gone to book nerd heaven.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:courier new;">My latest find was on a recent trip out east. If you're ever in Alexandria, Virginia, I recommend you look up the </span><a href="http://www.abebooks.com/home/bookbank1/"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><em>Book Bank</em></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> on King Street (just down the street from the national headquarters of the </span><a href="http://www.nspe.org/index.html"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><em>NSPE</em></span></a>)<span style="font-family:courier new;">. Great selection of titles and wonderful prices. Not to mention the "local bookstore" atmosphere that is becoming increasingly difficult to track down in the Information Age.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Happy reading... 8^D</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18631760-8636566303158318825?l=10xtheblog.blogspot.com'/></div>Savanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13535396200050340965noreply@blogger.com0