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It’s important to note that my Amazon dilemma is particularly potent because I used to have a firm belief that the next book I bought had to be in-store. This was, in part, inspired by Fran Lebowitz (someone I both love and fear), who says you have to touch a book in person to truly decide on it.
But as I continued to shop in-store for my books in East London, I found that a type of hyper-curation takes place. Many bookstores, whether chains or independent, carry the same selection. This makes sense, as stores need to invest in books that are more likely to sell, but it also means shoppers are led into a quasi-algorithmic experience of book shopping. To find more niche titles, you almost always have to turn to online sources (see above). To find a happy medium, I’ve started using the resale site World of Books. You can find pretty much anything and everything there. and always at a discount
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Ok, this is a more obscure rec but bear with me. I recently started spending weekend days strolling into a new used book store in the Lower East Side called Sweet Pickle Books. The store has become a comforting place to make a quick cheap purchase for me, and also my go-to store for presents. Every time I go in there I find myself picking up books with the coolest names or covers and just buying them hoping I’ll like them. I’m currently reading J.G. Ballard’s Super-Cannes which I probably would have never even known about had I not stumbled upon it and thought the cover looked cool. I suggest this method for branching out from your usual genres or authors.
Mar 16, 2021
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I stopped buying books from Amazon (unless I’m trying to pad out an order to get free shipping) and now pretty much exclusively shop at Waterstones because I got a Waterstones card. BUT! I love love love independent book stores and shop there wherever possible. My favourites to visit are Backstory in Balham and Upper Street Books in Islington. You can feel the individual love and care put into the displays and selections.
Sep 10, 2024
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I love record stores and the discovery that happens when old stock mixes with new. More recently I've been getting deeper into art books and love buying books for people as gifts. NYC has a great community of shops like Karma and Mast, and there’s a gaggle of independent vendors that work the fairs like the Printed Matter MoMA PS1 Art Book Fair. I started going to the fairs a few years ago. They are like record fairs but even crustier in some ways, full of curmudgeons and characters. Check The Booksellers documentary for a nice slice of this world. I have met a few dealers and developed some rapport, one of which is Jeff Hirsch Books in Illinois, which has an incredible inventory and their sales emails are one of my favorites of all types. Even if you don’t buy, you learn something.
Apr 6, 2021
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Everyone is busy. Everyone is booked up. It has become to new norm to fill my Google Calendar with dinner plans and late-night events, fully scheduled two to three weeks in advance. Resisting this adult timetable, drop-in culture still exists with a bit more brute force, it's texting beloved besties that I'm around the corner—can I come over for a coffee or a chat?—then breezing through on to my errand of the day or whatever else I have going on.
Sep 18, 2024
Mike Mills' film Beginners is actually what made me start my Substack. After the credits rolled and the screen went black, I kept walking around, talking to friends and family, unable to shut up about it. I had to keep grinding down the topic of love, how bad people are at it, and how childlike we are in it, over and over again. Then, while watching Fire of Love, I realized Miranda July (recent author of All Fours and another current obsession of mine) was narrating it. Looking at her Wikipedia page I realized that the two of them are MARRIED. They have the most beautiful photo together, young and in love and in bed. When I look at it I try to imagine if they, like me in all my relationships, were also bad at loving and being loved in the beginning.
Sep 18, 2024
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In university, I needed a really strict environmental setup to even think about starting an essay. I needed my water bottle, a good table in the library, enough sleep, and a full belly. The library had to be quiet, and in more extreme cases, I even brought earplugs.
Lately, during my lunch hour at my nine-to-five job, I've been using the time to write, often tucked away or sitting on the floor around the office. I tap away at whatever I can get down, to later return to and edit. I have to take these stolen moments. I'm too hazy in the morning to write, and too tired of looking at screens in the evening. Weekends are often sacred for friends and rest. I think, for many of us, the new habit of writing won’t be glorious, long-haul manic frenzies. It’ll be about taking sips here and there, getting down on the page whatever we can.
Sep 18, 2024