Suspend Your Disbelief

Shop Talk |

Second-hand, but not second-rate


Yesterday we talked about why Borders’ demise doesn’t necessarily mean the end of books. Great, you may be saying. But where am I supposed to buy my books now?

Well, for new books, consider your local indie bookstore—you can find one near you on the IndieBound website. But there are also amazing used bookstores out there.

First, here’s a video on Brazenhead Books, a speakeasy-like (illegal) bookstore in NYC with a secret location—you can read more about them in the New Yorker, too. (Via.)

There’s No Place Like Here: Brazenhead Books from Etsy on Vimeo.

(By the way, owner Michael Seidenberg echoes MobyLives’ argument from yesterday: “People say, oh, did Barnes and Noble put you out [of business]? No, real estate put me out.” If you missed that post, read it in our blog archives.)

Next, here’s an amazing time-lapse video of Half Price Books filling a new bookstore (via).

And finally, here’s a video about Almost Banned in Harvard Square Booksellers, a used streetside bookstore—and Cambridge landmark—run by the homeless Ken O’Brien.


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