I love bookshops. Truly. I don't read all that much anymore, so it's a little odd but still, I like being there, surrounded by all the beautiful books most of which I will never touch, let alone read. It so wonderful to crawl inside a book and temporarily forget the world outside and I suppose I get a sense of that just by being there. And I adore university libraries. All that specialist knowledge! All those theories and case studies and all in so much more detail than I could ever absorb in my lifetime! I am a geek.
I want to make use of it all, like look up psychological traits or philiosophical concepts or physical explanations or foreign phonetics to find out real meaning for the way we behave or the way people think or the way the world works and talks. The kind of stuff that I'm interested in on a surface level, but never enough to want to study as an actual qualification. There's just not enough reason or drive for me explore them all properly.
Yet still, I like to hang around in bookshops. They're always so quiet and peaceful and I feel like they'll be full of intellectual types who sit and read Plato over coffee while discussing whether the epistemological view of the universe is still valid in an existentialist world. Not that I fit in with that as I'm not a literary type, as you might have guessed. But yes, I love bookshops.
Sometimes, I consider what books to buy. But I'm so bad at actually sitting down to read something that takes longer than two pages to get into. Even the classic gems, like Pride and Prejudice, or The Catcher in the Rye or...Twilight. I've got less than half-way into each of them and given up because I just don't make the time to read regulary. Naturally, I have the time, but in this land of instant gratification, I find it hard to sit and read and not feel like I should be doing something else more productive. Of course, the internet is successful in taking away any of that kind of guilt, which is a both a blessing and a curse.
So I would ask for recommendations, but I won't be buying any books anytime soon - I've got a huge backlog to get through and I don't have the money to buy stuff I know I won't use. I'll continue to visit bookshops though. They make me feel all serene inside and sometimes, I just need that escape when there's a raging storm brewing under the covers of my mind.
On the jukebox: 6 Day Riot ~ Run For Your LifeYet still, I like to hang around in bookshops. They're always so quiet and peaceful and I feel like they'll be full of intellectual types who sit and read Plato over coffee while discussing whether the epistemological view of the universe is still valid in an existentialist world. Not that I fit in with that as I'm not a literary type, as you might have guessed. But yes, I love bookshops.
Sometimes, I consider what books to buy. But I'm so bad at actually sitting down to read something that takes longer than two pages to get into. Even the classic gems, like Pride and Prejudice, or The Catcher in the Rye or...Twilight. I've got less than half-way into each of them and given up because I just don't make the time to read regulary. Naturally, I have the time, but in this land of instant gratification, I find it hard to sit and read and not feel like I should be doing something else more productive. Of course, the internet is successful in taking away any of that kind of guilt, which is a both a blessing and a curse.
So I would ask for recommendations, but I won't be buying any books anytime soon - I've got a huge backlog to get through and I don't have the money to buy stuff I know I won't use. I'll continue to visit bookshops though. They make me feel all serene inside and sometimes, I just need that escape when there's a raging storm brewing under the covers of my mind.
You should definitely try to get the time to read The Catcher In The Rye. It's a great book.
ReplyDeleteMy most favourite shop ever is Waterstones. I regularly spend a good few hours just wandering around and reading bits of books and generally just taking some time out - like you said, it is serene. I'm reading 'Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments' - it's great and something you can dip in and out of as it's not a continuing story. Recommended by teacherface, thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteI'm on P&P at the moment. Half an hour before bed each night. Next is The Catcher in the Rye. Et apres, if I can bear it, Twilight. *grimace*
ReplyDeleteI also have Emma and I Capture The Castle in queue. And The Gift for more of a light relief. I like a little bit of magic.
Waterstones is probably my favourite shop in the city centre here. It's five storeys (stories?) high and has such a different atmosphere from the rest of the scum that spans the street. And at the top they often have art displays or craft &jewellery stalls and this is making me want to go there right now, but the weekends mean I'm too tired to do anything but sit in bed and I don't have the time during the week, except for Wednesday. Maybe I'll go on Wednesday.