Driving home clutching about £40 worth of paperbacks that I'd paid £2.50 for I heard on the radio news that Borders bookshop chain in the UK has appointed advisers to try to find a buyer for the business. The report said WH Smith walked away from a takeover deal on Friday, and that Borders UK could go into administration soon without a sale. 'That's a shame' I said to Mr FF 'I always spend time in Borders when I go to Glasgow, its the only place to get Vogue Knitting and Interweave magazine'. Mr FF asked me if I ever bought anything else and I had to admit only the odd card or a newspaper. He commented that Borders had probably put small local bookshops out of business and now they are going out of business themselves. 'And' he went on 'its people like you buying all your books at charity shops who have caused that'. Guilty as charged, sorry Borders, and I will be taking the books back to the charity shop when I've read them which compounds my crime.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Bringing down Borders
Yesterday Mr FF needed a haircut and I needed to go to the post office so at lunchtime we popped down to our local town. I called in at the charity shop that was having a book sale, normally their paperbacks are around £1.50 but yesterday they were 50p and hardbacks £1.50. I managed to find a great selection, based mainly on the reviews on the back. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to book reviews, anything from The Times, Independent, Observer etc is fine but if one of the, in my mind, lesser newspapers or gossip magazines suggests the book is a good read, I assume its not for me. Anyway all these came with comments like 'tender and insightful', 'brilliant ... very funny', from approved sources. Driving home clutching about £40 worth of paperbacks that I'd paid £2.50 for I heard on the radio news that Borders bookshop chain in the UK has appointed advisers to try to find a buyer for the business. The report said WH Smith walked away from a takeover deal on Friday, and that Borders UK could go into administration soon without a sale. 'That's a shame' I said to Mr FF 'I always spend time in Borders when I go to Glasgow, its the only place to get Vogue Knitting and Interweave magazine'. Mr FF asked me if I ever bought anything else and I had to admit only the odd card or a newspaper. He commented that Borders had probably put small local bookshops out of business and now they are going out of business themselves. 'And' he went on 'its people like you buying all your books at charity shops who have caused that'. Guilty as charged, sorry Borders, and I will be taking the books back to the charity shop when I've read them which compounds my crime.
Driving home clutching about £40 worth of paperbacks that I'd paid £2.50 for I heard on the radio news that Borders bookshop chain in the UK has appointed advisers to try to find a buyer for the business. The report said WH Smith walked away from a takeover deal on Friday, and that Borders UK could go into administration soon without a sale. 'That's a shame' I said to Mr FF 'I always spend time in Borders when I go to Glasgow, its the only place to get Vogue Knitting and Interweave magazine'. Mr FF asked me if I ever bought anything else and I had to admit only the odd card or a newspaper. He commented that Borders had probably put small local bookshops out of business and now they are going out of business themselves. 'And' he went on 'its people like you buying all your books at charity shops who have caused that'. Guilty as charged, sorry Borders, and I will be taking the books back to the charity shop when I've read them which compounds my crime.
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Maybe Borders going into administration will mean those little local bookshops will make a come back. I think the book industry needs to reinvent itself a bit, make it more enticing to buy books from bookshops maybe? We've got three book shops in our town, little independent places, one opened this week! I don't think you should feel guilty about your haul, I think you should feel thrilled! Love Vanessa xxx (do you mind if i knit)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great selection of books. I always like a pile to choose from, when selecting my next book. Your local charity shop has a much better selection that mine - it has an exellent range of Mills and Boon and not a lot else!
ReplyDeleteI can spell excellent btw!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I heard on the radio a town had complained when the last independent bookshop closed and they all blamed the Oxfam Bookshop doing a roaring trade. But I can't resist a second hand book stall/shop there are always bargains to be found. I think Amazon has a lot more to answer for to be honest!!!(ups I buy from them too!)
ReplyDeleteLove
Lyn
xxx
A Spot of Bother is a really funny book, hope you enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteOh! I had no idea Borders were in trouble. I use the store quite often as there is a branch just across the road from my school. Such a shame! You made some great charity shop purchases though. 'The Glass Palace' is wonderful and I also enjoyed the Mark Haddon. Happy reading! Ros
ReplyDeleteWonderful to get bargains like that, even if it is at someone else's expense. But you have to think of your own budget don't you? I tend to feel the same when I find something really good in the Book People brochure, one of their collections of books for a mere fraction of the normal price... like I got a selection of fourteen Penguin paperbacks in those gorgeous orange and white covers, for less than a tenner, which saved me about £80 I think. Someone is losing out, obviously, but to be honest, I don't really care!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard the news about Borders. Hope they don't go under as I go there most Fridays after work.
ReplyDeleteOooh, your selection of books looks lovely - good prices, too! I'd rather spend my money in a charity shop than in a high street retail outlet any day - new books are just too expensive for my liking. (Only found your blog recently, and have been enjoying reading your posts). Caroline x
ReplyDeleteHmm - not sure really who / what / whether anyone or any business is to blame for the collapse of bookselling. Let's face it - although there are still a lot of us who think that buying books is a great treat, there are many more who regard it as tantamount to torture.
ReplyDeleteI'm seen as a bit of an old misery by children of friends for turning up year after year with books as Christmas presents - but I don't think anything else comes close to the excitement / pleasure / enjoyment that books can give.
I have contributed a lot of money to Borders over the years (often in Glasgow, it being one of the places that my husband used to favour as an ideal date...), and would willingly support a local shop - if there were one - I shall be sorry to see Borders go - it may well have been a large corporate business, but it did stock a wider variety than some of its rivals.
Think I'd better stop now !!!!
What a great stack of books you found, Jenny...and great price too! But sad news for Borders. The whole book industry seems in a mix these days. I admit I love Borders, their selection is fantastic. But when you can get better deals elsewhere, like Amazon, etc. for instance so much book-buying seems to be happening online. I've noticed that many seem to purchase magazines, papers and coffee at Borders, but rarely see on with a stack of books. hhhmmm... I wonder what will happen! In the meantime enjoy your reading, Jenny! Oh, and many thanks for your uplifting and encouraging comment at my place--so appreciated! :O9 ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteI think I'm guilty too. I only usually bought magazines there. I used to find the Oxford Circus store such a mess that I could never find anything and they never had such good bargains as other bookshops or Amazon.
ReplyDeleteHeigh ho, another one bites the dust!
You books look great though! x
Just read my comment back and noticed all the mistakes. It looks like I've never read a book in my life! Oops x
ReplyDeleteBorders is great for magazines but I'm not sure when I last bought a book there. When it first opened here it had a huge variety of interesting stock, but I don't find that anymore, plus the shops are looking scruffy these days.
ReplyDeleteBorders in Edinburgh is way out of town, it's probably quicker to get the train to Glasgow to go there than the bus out to the retail park. I tend to use Waterstones and independents here.
I don't think you should feel guilty about your book haul. You are giving some money to charity and recycling them too, which sounds good to me. I think Borders going into administration is due to several facters; internet sellers like Amazon, the recession and growing popularity of electronic books too.......it is a shame, but in an overcrowded market, I'm not surprised it's happened.
ReplyDeleteI share your guilt - infact I feel solely responsible for the whole credit crunch!! We buy all our books from our local hospice shop, and return them there when we have read them too. Serves Borders right actually - my fave bookshop is "The little shop around the corner" in "Youve got mail" and we all know what happened to that one!. xxx
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm a full time mum and no longer in paid employment (hooray!) I buy all my books from the local charity shop, where they sell 4 paperbacks for £1. I have had to extend my reading range greatly because I have to make do with what I can find there, but that is a good thing as it's easy for me to get stuck in a rut with books. It is money for charity, plus I often give back the books to another charity shop so two charity shops benefit from one donation. All we need is Costa concessions in the charity shops and then it's definitely bye bye Borders. country mouse xx
ReplyDeleteGreat stash of books for cosy winter evenings.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard about Borders too. Like you I only bought the odd magazine (I love some of the American ones) and a card here and there.
I think Amazon is very hard to beat for price, and that will probably have a lot to do with it. I can't remember the last time I bought a new book in an actual bookshop.
Hi, I looked by your blog and was delighted to discover you are a keen reader.
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to say thankyou for dropping by my Blog and I have now enjoyed reading all your great entries about the snow you have recently been enjoying!
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