It was nothing but happenstance. After an hour browsing in a bookstore, I picked up a paperback copy of “Losing Mum and Pup.”
Christopher Buckley’s book, on a sale table, caught my eye with its cover photo of the author’s famous parents. The memoir chronicles the year William F. Buckley and his wife, Patricia Buckley, died, and their son’s sad but very funny memories.
It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. If I hadn’t been looking around a bookstore, I never would have found it.
There are lots of ways and places to buy books. Yet for bookstore browsers, Thursday was a sad day.
A bankruptcy judge in New York approved a plan by the Borders Group Inc. to appoint liquidators to sell its assets. Some Borders stores could be sold to another chain, but going-out-of-business sales are expected at most locations as early as today.
Borders at Everett Mall is the only general interest bookstore selling new books in Everett — a city of more than 100,000 people. The Alderwood mall Borders closed earlier this year. A woman at the Everett Mall Borders on Thursday said managers were not available to comment on that store’s future.
I’ve been a serious book browser since college. New and used bookstores on Seattle’s University Way were perfect haunts in a rainy city. It’s a habit I never outgrew.
Still, I’m partly to blame for the book-buying revolution. I’ve gone from ordering books from Amazon to buying e-books with my Nook. My latest e-book is “Matterhorn,” the Vietnam War saga by Karl Marlantes.
I’m still getting used to the e-reader I got for Christmas. With a vacation coming, it’s great not to haul a dozen heavy books along.
Whatever technology brings us, I doubt I’ll ever pass up a bookstore. In Snohomish County, I like the University Book Store in Mill Creek, which has a good literary fiction selection, a shelf of fine used books, and Top Pot Doughnuts — I buy coffee, but skip those tempting goodies.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Lynnwood likely will draw buyers accustomed to Borders. Third Place Books, just over the county line in Lake Forest Park, is a fun destination, with author events, live music and a food court.
The Edmonds Bookshop and the Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood are longtime independent bookstores in Snohomish County, both with new merchandise. There are many used bookstores, large and small, including the Half Price Books chain stores near Everett Mall and in Lynnwood.
Half Price Books has some new offerings, but those are generally overstock from other stores.
Mary Kay Sneeringer has owned the Edmonds Bookshop for a decade. She said Thursday that sales have slipped this year. “We really weathered the recession pretty well. This was the year that people who love to read got some sort of electronic reading device,” she said.
Sneeringer is selling fewer hardcover books and scheduling more events in the store. With the popularity of book clubs, she sees more women than men buying books. Popular series — Harry Potter, Twilight and “The Hunger Games” books — are a draw for teens.
“Print books aren’t going to go away, but it will be a struggle for bookstores to find enough people who are buying rather than just coming in to browse,” she said.
Snow Goose Bookstore owner Kristine Kaufman said it’s been years since independent stores concentrated on current bestsellers. Those are discounted by chains and sold at supermarkets, Costco and Target. “They have a short shelf life,” she said.
The Stanwood bookseller believes her store has been affected far more by the recession than by e-readers. Kaufman also said it’s too early to know how the e-reader industry will evolve, and whether people will come to use them exclusively or continue buying books.
I’ll buy both ways, and browse in bookstores too — as long as they exist.
I told Sneeringer about the Buckley book.
“You didn’t know you wanted it until you came across it,” she said. “That’s the magic of bookstores.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Sellers of new books
If Borders closes at Everett Mall, Everett won’t have a general merchandise bookstore selling new titles. These other Snohomish County bookstores sell new books:
•Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway, Lynnwood. 425-771-2220.
•University Book Store, 15311 Main St., Mill Creek. 425-385-3530.
•Snow Goose Bookstore, 8616 271st St. NW, Stanwood. 360-629-3631.
•Edmonds Bookshop, 111 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds. 425-775-2789.
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