There was in St Pete Fl for years called Haslams and when I lived there I was amazingly broke as I was supporting a 4 member family on a teacher’s salary. I would let my boys get a couple used comics and they were happy. It was room after room of books on shelves, stacked on tables, some new, many used. And of course it closed during the pandemic. I still miss it.

Totally agree with this! I am a librarian and LOVE suggesting things to read to our patrons. I have an end of row display for my current picks:

understandable maybe not totally trash it but just yk state just a few things that happened that made you not like it as much as them every one should have a chance to voice their opinions

Yeah I definitely recommended some better ones but I thought it would be hurtful if I trashed the book that they liked

they are LIARS don’t trust them trust reddit 😭

i think it’s time to tell them the truth and then recommend them a better book

Library staff here. What they did for you in the blind date book program is something they can do for you all the time. It's called readers advisory and all librarians learn it in their schooling. They'll help you find a book that you might like, and the more that librarian does it, the more they'll get to know your tastes and the better they'll be at it. Also, most librarians LOVE doing readers advisory and wish they could do more.

You forgot to mention the one-dimensional characters that seem to get re-incarnated over and over. The fact that it promises to tell you something, but then ends abruptly. That the author imagines a galaxy-wide empire but can't imagine women being anything but extras.

I have a “want to read” list on Goodreads and then I go to the library and search their computer to see if they have it. Once I locate it I explore the shelves around and see if anything else in the area catches my fancy. Took home three books today with this technique.

Got an advanced copy of the Grossman translation while working at a bookstore. Still collecting dust on my bookshelf.

For me it’s two things: the ‘used book smell’ and the treasures you can stumble upon-open, out of print/hard to find books. Case in point: a few years ago I bought a first edition novel called ‘Lord of the World’ by Robert Hugh Benson, published in 1908. I paid about $106 with tax. It’s in pretty good condition for its age (minus the dust jacket) with some fading on the cover’s lettering. I’ve seen 1945 editions selling for over $400. However, I recently seen the same edition as mine on ABE Books going for $5000. I’m fairly certain that mine is worth we’ll above what I paid for it even if it isn’t as much as the one on ABE’s website.

There are literally no rules

The possibility of what you’ll find. The possibility of what might come through the door. Last one I was at, the kids of a British actor came in wanting to drop off box after box of their fathers books. I wish I had stayed to snoop. The actor had been in Rocky Horror and Doctor Who and had been friends with an award winning playwright. And the kids were just glad to be rid of it. Imagine what treasures might’ve been in those boxes.

I'm pretty sure the glue from mass market paperbacks degrades into a compound that is basically musty morphine.

> I’d guess only 20 or 30% of the store is new releases.

80% of a regular-sized store is maybe a small percentage of the size of the building you'd need to gather up every book in the language that's been through multiple print runs. You need a warehouse.

A lot of it is fairly realistic. Highland weirdos who never talk to their neighbours are a stereotype. Can't remember if the house in the book is surrounded with piles of tyres and Irn Bru bottles.

The smell

Wow thanks that's an excellent method that I am definitely going to try out!

I have to avoid going to used book stores because I always overspend.

I have enjoyed Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway. I have Rules of Civility on my shelf queued up. There are a very few anomalies in the "Gentleman" but I could live with them accepting them as artistic license.

I felt is was redundant until part two, then it became incredible. Just work your way there and you'll be rewarded.

^^^

My library picks usually go like this:

1. A book from my TBR list. (I usually search the online catalog for this book before even walking in)
2. A non-fiction book about whatever topic I’m obsessing over that week (I might just head to the topic’s bookstack and pick one at random or I might have a list of books in mind before heading in)
3. An impulse book (like, maybe the book cover caught my eye) OR a book from a shelf I don’t usually go to just to expand my horizons (like poetry, or something)
4. A graphic novel

Regarding my TBR list: I used to use Goodreads, but then I was just adding all the books. So, now I have a paper notebook where I record the book, who recommended it (or where I learned about the book), and a sentence on why I want to read it. (I would add books to my Goodreads list and then a year later I’d be like, “what is this? Why would I even add this?”)

I get a list of books that I would like to read but would never pay for and just ask the librarian if they can order them in 😂

I don’t think it’s true that B&N has only a sliver of books that have been through a few printings. I’d guess only 20 or 30% of the store is new releases. What’s boring about a B&N is that each time you go is mostly the same experience because that other 70-80% of books gets reordered from the publisher when a copy is bought, whereas a used bookstore could have entirely new books from one visit to the next.