Nov. 7: National Bookstore Day

Today is National Bookstore Day, and it's time to honor all those small, indie stores with a purchase or two. :) Technically, you should support small, indie stores all year long, but it's good to give them a special day.

OK, while we aren’t quite at the point where the electronic marketplace has eclipsed the physical one, it is true that independent bookstores have been struggling for a long while. And now with the deadly Pricing War of 2009 in full swing, they’re taking yet another hit.

So, as a way to honor these burrows for bookworms, Publishers Weekly has declared tomorrow “National Bookstore Day.” Over 140 booksellers around the country will be involved in the nationwide promotion trying to remind people just how special independent bookstores can be. Amazon doesn’t let you peruse 18 miles of shelving like the Strand bookstore in New York. Try asking Walmart to let you stay the night in their facilities in exchange for work like Paris’ Shakespeare and Company does. They’ll probably laugh and rollback your butt out the door. Read more

Publisher's Weekly has the official announcement here. If you're a fan of GLBT fiction and non-fiction, do a search on GLBT bookstores. Show retailers like Common Language, who's been struggling financially, that they're an important part of the reading community.

If you're in Europe, check out this blog, which focuses on indie bookstores in your neck of the woods.

Bookstore Guide is a non-profit organization with an aim to list independent bookstores throughout Europe, carrying at least a certain amount of books in English. Read more

Some of the stores they featured make me salivate. Seriously, would Wal-Mart ever give you that kind of experience? Ooooohhh, but they're so cheeaaapp! Ha! At what cost? Bunch of corporate vampiric chowderheads from Hell.*

* Big box stores suck on all levels. Wal-Mart leads the pack.