Turn the Page

At long last, something returns from the dead that isn't a part of the most boring subgenre imaginable of entertainment, the zombie movie.

It's the independent bookstore, presumed dead or dying in the 1990s as Borders and Barnes & Noble stomped their massive inventories and extensive ordering potential into the market, overwhelming the small nooks and such that occupied downtown corners and repurposed houses.

But then Amazon killed Borders and has Barnes & Noble stuck in a corner of its own. And folks who want the experience of searching out a book that they might not have known they wanted to read find themselves committing the shocking act of leaving their homes and entering an actual building in order to browse or hunt down a potential purchase. The story at the link focuses on the openings of some new stores in Baltimore, but it's happening in other towns as well, and even the Bezos Brigade has dipped a toe into meat-space with a couple of brick and mortar stores with books printed on paper and everything.

There's not much hope for the United States Senate, but we may yet justify our country's continued existence by saving the bookstore.