Has anyone heard or seen Indies Under Fire: The Battle for the American Boookstore? I hadn’t heard about this documentary before but I was reading my latest Bookforum and there’s an interesting article about it.

The documentary follows the stories of three California bookstores and shows why more than half the independent bookstores that were open in 1992 were out of business by 2006. Of course the demise for many of them is due to the fact that they can’t compete financially with the big box stores. But, it was a bit suprising to me that another reason mentioned in the article is that it can also boil down to aesthetics. Indies aren’t as visually pleasing? Well, I haven’t seen a bookstore I didn’t like so what do I know.

I wish I had an independent bookstore around me but I will be honest and say chances are I would also visit the big bookstores and yes, I’d still buy online (gasp!). I mean, I wish I could just shop at an indie bookstore all the time but when you buy so many books you need to find ways to save too, right?

So do you shop indie? Do you have a favorite one? I do have a favorite, BookPeople in Austin, Texas. Only wish it wasn’t four hours drive away from me.

I still haven’t quite shaken off the cold I caught even though most of the weekend I’ve been resting. However, cold or no cold, I was not going to miss the book sale the local schools put together. I grabbed my big book bag and my wallet and I had a blast.

I would list all the goodies but I’m kind of tired. I blame it on the medicine I’m taking. Instead here’s a picture of what $30 got me. Not bad. Now, where do I put these?