It was a happy accident that I was able to shop in the one and only brick & mortar AMAZON bookstore. Yes, you read that right, online giant Amazon is going old school and testing their model for a bookstore near the campus of University of Washington.
It is a smaller footprint than the big box bookstores of yesterday, but that's okay. It is geared toward today's reader by displaying reviews and ratings from amazon.com. Who better to curate the list of what is being read and how readers are responding to it.
Have you made your own Goodreads reader profile? Goodreads is a reader community (owned by Amazon) that allows you to store the titles of books you have read, are reading and want to read on a virtual bookshelf. It has saved me many times when I want to recommend a book to a friend but I can't remember the author or title. You have days like that too, eh? Goodreads is also loaded with reviews, reading recommendations, as well as a friend component, which allows members to connect and see what their friends are reading. It is a wonderful tool.
It appears to me that Amazon is harnessing their online sales information and their Goodreads book reviews to offer customers a selection of books that are currently being enjoyed. The categories and layout felt like I was looking at a "Best of" list by category and I liked it. Picking up a book, reading the back cover, flipping through it and glancing at the reviews. Book buying in 3D. All over again.
Reading and Thinking are two of my favorite ways to spend my time on cold winter days (usually baking is happening at the same time - see the Orange Curd with Shortbread Dipping Stick earlier this month.)
I want to recommend a website (and "app" if you use them) called GoodReads.com. It is an online bookshelf where you can keep track of books you've read (I can never remember the author's name, this website helps!), books you want to read (where else can you keep track of friend's suggestions) and find books that your friends are reading.
The app version lets you scan barcodes, so when I am browsing in a bookstore, I can "scan" any book I want to read later and it stores it in my "want to read" section. I just love it.
You can find your friends (if you want) and follow authors (pick me!) - it's fun.
Two of my favorite books that I have read lately are:
Sugar Queen by Sarah Allen Addison (a quirky, half-magical story of a woman gaining the confidence to live her own life. It also revolves around a controlling mother, the love of candy bars and a new-found appreciation for helping your friends)
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (a fascinating story of a woman's power to help her customers - she's a florist- by sending "meaning or intent" through the combination of flowers in the arrangement. It is also filled with love (maternal and romantic), the foster system (where she was raised) and scrappy determination to learn. This is the book that made me want to drive to California "to fix some things."
