I’m trying to weigh the situation. I see a few book shops around 45 minutes (drive) away, possibly more, from where I live, but it’s in a more traffic-heavy city than I’m used to driving in. This makes me nervous; I am admittedly not the best driver; no major accidents, but more close calls than I should have under my belt! The drive is kind of long, meaning a lot of gas, too. Add in wet or possibly icy roads sometimes. But I love the ambiance of a smaller, privately-owned bookstore, and the books always seem so well-curated, whereas it is difficult to find something I like among the sea of books at our large B&N closer by. The way smaller bookstores often curate the best of the best, increases my chances of finding books I love.
What factors do you weigh in, here? I’d love to hear how you’d make this decision!
This is the place I find so appealing! [Spine Bookstore & Café](https://www.spinebookstorecafe.com/)
by New_Assistant2922
10 Comments
I drive well over an hour each way every week to travel around and go to different book stores in my area. This question is less about the traveling for books and more about your fear of driving. I’m not sure how old you are, but if you’re that scared, talking to a therapist may help get over that fear. The more you drive, the better you become. It’s just about being aware and drive defensively always.
I don’t really do random shopping of books so I don’t really care what is in the bookstore.
I buy books by ordering them.
And because I live in a non-English country, it’s harder to find English books as a non-local.
If it couldn’t be sent by mail, I could drive up to maybe 30 mins. But it has to be worth it.
I’m not affiliated, but [bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org) is my go-to Amazon replacement. You can choose the independent bookstore you want to support, and don’t need to drive.
That said, I’d agree with /u/studyhardbree – you may want to look at facing those fears.
This depends on what they stock. I love SFF and some historical. I have not found an indie bookstore that had even half the selection of the old small mall bookstores in decades. I would drive 2 hours to go to one that actual stocked something interesting. Sadly, all the indies around me skew YA, Literary, and then has a pitiful selection of SFF. They don’t even stock the award winners let alone the short lists.
I miss the giant used bookstore by my dad’s. I miss the indie that specialized in SFF that closed down 20 years ago.
I’m not sure how relevant my opinion is, given that I’m not from the US and not used to the idea of relatively long car journeys in this context. However, perhaps you could arrange a day out with a friend who can drive if you’re not comfortable doing that. Go book shopping, walk around town, and have lunch together.
I wouldn’t drive for that at all tbh. I have a few privately owned bookstores in walking or biking distance so I don’t need to either, but even when I lived in a rural area without stores nearby I would have never driven that long just to go to a store. At that point I’d rather jut order online.
I buy from bookshop.org when I’m not living/working nearby an independent bookstore. In truth, I rarely buy books before I’ve read them, except for the indie published ones that I can’t borrow from a library first. As much as I love bookstores, I haven’t found one that I’d drive 45 min for unless they have a special event going on. Your bookstore sounds awesome, though.
If they open try to go on a Saturday morning. If you go early the traffic will be calmer than usual. You can make it a nice trip with breakfast before the bookshop opens or lunch after.
As for the driving in my opinion its all about practicing, getting in the hours in order to get more confident.
I have to drive an hour to find a Barnes and Noble so 45 minutes to a locally owned small book store sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
On a serious note, if you’re wanting the ambiance and to support local then make the drive, but if not then don’t or alternatively you could always see if you can buy from them online.
Not very tbh, I truly do want to support local booksellers, and I do have one in my town that I go to, but the selection is incredibly limited and they basically never have what I want when I go. Yeah I know they can order it, but now I have to go back out a second time. Sadly, they just really aren’t something I cherish all that much. Id prefer to go to the library or BN