Everyone Blogs...Bookstore Blogs of Interest

I recently read an online article about why booksellers should blog, and I have
to admit, it hadn't even occurred to me to look for bookstore blogs, but what a
great idea. You could see what the staff members are reading, get a sense for
which staffer shares your taste, and you'd then know who to talk to when you
went to the store in need of a recommendation. Plus, it would be a way of
staying on top of what's new at the store.

So, I took a bit of an online excursion to find bookstore blogs. There aren't
that many yet, though I'm sure I only scratched the surface in my quest. The
blogs vary widely, but tend to include staff reviews of new books, talk about
what's going on in the store and discussion about the book world.

Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, is one of the biggest independent bookstores, and they have a store blog at www.powells.com/blog One of the booksellers at the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, has "Gayle's Blog" at morenotes.wordpress.com. The store blog for Book People in Austin, Texas, is at bookpeopleblog .wordpress.com Kepler's Bookstore in Menlo Park, California, has a couple of blogs. The general blog is keplers.blogspot.com and the teen/young adult blog is at thebookbind.blogspot.com The web site for the Mysterious Galaxy store in San Diego, California, is in blog format, with reviews and recommendations on the main page. Find that at mysteriousgalaxy.booksense.com On the other coast, Books, Etc., in Maine has a store blog at booksetcblog.blogspot.com Booksellers have also discovered LiveJournal. The Bakka Phoenix bookstore, a science fiction/fantasy specialty shop in Toronto, has its own LiveJournal community, community.livejournal.com/bakkaphoenix The Inkwell Bookstore in Falmouth, Massachusetts, just started a LiveJournal, but their focus isn't so much on book recommendations as it is on book-related news and things book lovers might find interesting. Find that at inkwell- bkstr.livejournal.com Even the big guys have gotten into the game. Amazon has the Omnivoracious blog at www.omnivoracious.com with lots of fun book discussion. If you've got a favorite independent store, it might be worthwhile to see if they've got a blog. It's a great way to stay in touch with what's in the bookstore without leaving the house on a cold winter day.

Until next time ... Shanna

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Shanna Swendson writes "Fairy Tales for Modern Times" and is the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series about a Texan in New York City, a magical NYC. Visit her website or blog for more information.