Booking Through Thursday: Vacation Spots AND Doomsday

Booking Through Thursday


Another question inspired by the Bunch of Grapes on Martha’s Vineyard having burned down on the Fourth of July.
Do you buy books while on vacation/holiday?
Do you have favorite bookstores that you only get to visit while away on a trip?
What/Where are they?

Yes, I do buy books on vacation. Sometimes cook books, like the time I bought a big fat one while exploring Amish Country. And often I'll buy the "tour" books, especially after site seeing in a National Park. These are the books full of big, beautiful color pictures of all the places you've just seen. I came home with a bunch of those after being to England. It's fun to look through them. I think I bought a couple of novels in England, mostly because I thought it was cool to see the price in pounds on the back! (I think it was a Sir Walter Scott book too, so that made sense to buy while in Scotland, right?)

I don't have any particular favorite book stores that I visit. But I do make it a point to check out whatever bookstore is in the area when we are on vacation. We walked around in a really cool, eclectic one while in San Francisco. I wish I could remember the name. (I think it was this one.) I felt like I was "trespassing" though, because I had a tail of kids following me. I don't think they see many kids in there! And there's a pretty neat one on Cannery Row in Monterey, California too. When I was in Portland, I totally missed seeing Powell's. If I ever get back there, that place will be high high on my list! Oh, and when I was in England, I walked down The Strand, and in and out of a few bookstores there, just to say I did it!

And sometimes when I go to Salt Lake, which isn't really a vacation spot for me, but a day excursion sometimes, I like to walk around The King's English. Love that bookstore too.

And last week's question, because I wasn't here to answer then:

What would you do if, all of a sudden, your favorite source of books was unavailable?
Whether it’s a local book shop, your town library, or an Internet shop … what would you do if, suddenly, they were out of business? Devastatingly, and with no warning? Where would you go for books instead? What would you do? If it was a local business you would try to help out the owners? Would you just calmly start buying from some other store? Visit the library in the next town instead? Would it be devastating? Or just a blip in your reading habit?

If my library was suddenly not available, I would be lost. It would be heartbreaking. I would be travelling more often to the library in the neighboring city much more than I do now. And if there was no library available at all, I'd be buying even more books than I do now. I'd use Paperbackswap more, and I'd be checking out thrift store books more. Having no library would be really hard!