Big bookstore chains, small independent bookshops, cramped up little secondhand bookstores with bad fluorescent lighting, they’re all testaments to our continuing love for the written word.
Enter online bookstores. It probably began with Amazon. I was too little to remember. It first occurred to me that it was possible to buy books online when I made a blogging acquaintance awhile back. I’ve found so many titles that bookstores here don’t carry, either because they’re ‘unpopular’ with local readers or because they’re outright banned. My early reading repertoire consisted of pop fiction with agonizingly similar storylines. I borrowed from my local library and occasionally bought books that I wanted to keep, e.g. the Harry Potter series, with each paperback copy costing a whopping $20.
As someone with not much choice when it comes to book-buying, I’m grateful for the existence of online book retailers. I know it’s detrimental to independent bookselling, and I’m afraid that bookstores will eventually shut. However, there have never been many good bookstores in my country, and the good ones sell their books at a premium. I would never have gotten my first black-spined Penguin Classics book without online bookstores. I would never have discovered so many writers with so many different things to say about the world without online bookstores.
If you, like me, live somewhere located far from the epicentres of literatures in English, i.e. Europe or America, you’ll also very likely face the problem of censorship (The Satanic Verses, anyone?). It can be downright frustrating to be hearing about great books online, but be unable to get your hands on them, because. Online bookstores are a way for us to get our hands on those books (thank goodness they haven’t resorted to parcel checks), and to open our minds up to alternative ways of thinking that have been suppressed by book-banning in our countries.
Online bookstores over this? No way.
However, I’ve heard horrible things about certain bookselling websites recently. It involves them making use of unethical means to keep their prices low, and that is why physical stores will never be able to keep up with their sales. It’s really giving me conflicting feelings about buying my books online, because I want to be able to afford books, and because there are some books that are really unavailable here, and it seems like a simple click and 3-4 weeks’ worth of wait are all it takes for a little paper friend to fall into my lap.
I think what we can do at the moment is to source for alternative bookselling websites. I’ve found Thriftbooks to be fantastic for secondhand books, though shipping can be a bit pricey if you’re situated outside America. Wordery is also a great choice, because it shipping is free and delivery is prompt. However, it does have its constraints in terms of pricing. Only major currencies are accepted as of now, and the conversion rate can be a pain. However, these are two alternatives you can look at if you’re located closer to the epicentres. I will continue my search in the meantime, and hopefully return with more good tidings!
Basically, online bookstores are a great thing – if they do it right. This is a loophole that, fortunately for us, hasn’t been discovered by the authorities. This is a platform for readers to reach out of their comfort zones, to look at things we’re not allowed to look at. After all, who said we must always believe what we read? Sometimes, just being aware is enough.
Literary Anxiety 