PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:29 am D's still opens as a pop-up on occasion, she posts details on her Facebook page, unfortunately she can't afford to operate a dedicated full time 2nd hand bookstore, and was recently trying to fundraise so she could reopen.

Damn shame there's no dedicated 2nd hand bookstores left in PP

I used to buy books there, and I absolutely prefer to have a proper printed book to something on a screen, but it was often cheaper to buy online.
If she could find the right partner business, sharing premises with a coffee shop or similar might be the way to go, be good to have the option to buy the real thing!

Bluenose wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2024 6:23 pm

PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:29 am D's still opens as a pop-up on occasion, she posts details on her Facebook page, unfortunately she can't afford to operate a dedicated full time 2nd hand bookstore, and was recently trying to fundraise so she could reopen.

Damn shame there's no dedicated 2nd hand bookstores left in PP

I used to buy books there, and I absolutely prefer to have a proper printed book to something on a screen, but it was often cheaper to buy online.
If she could find the right partner business, sharing premises with a coffee shop or similar might be the way to go, be good to have the option to buy the real thing!

Mom tried to run the combo coffee shop/bookstore already. Unfortunately it did not pay off.

Once the import of second hand books effectively dried up* shops like Bohr's were relying on photocopies and the occasional books exchanged by tourists. With the advent of eBooks there were soon precious few of the latter.

Clearly the key advantage of digital books is their portability: no more struggling with Somerset Maugham's Book Bag:

‘I suppose you haven’t any books with you,’ he said. ‘I haven’t got a thing to read.’
‘Books?’ I cried.
I pointed to my book–bag. It stood upright, bulging oddly, so that it looked like a humpbacked gnome somewhat the worse for liquor.
‘Have you got books in there? I thought that was your dirty linen or a camp–bed or something. Is there anything you can lend me?’
‘Look for yourself.’
Featherstone’s boys had unlocked the bag, but quailing before the sight that then discovered itself had done no more. I knew from long experience how to unpack it. I threw it over on its side, seized its leather bottom and, walking backwards, dragged the sack away from its contents. A river of books poured on to the floor. A look of stupefaction came upon Featherstone’s face.
‘You don’t mean to say you travel with as many books as that? By George, what a snip!’

And they are so easy to store, search, and quote from. More available than we will ever read, and free, if you are not averse to a bit of piracy.

I have a few boxes of paper books that I'm loath to dispose of but I know I won't read them again.

And in any case, increasingly few people read books. They don't have the time as they spend 8 hours a day 'reading' social media. And some pundits predict that in 10 years the internet will be more audiovisual than text based, typing and reading being too effortful. Audiobooks are the vanguard of this.

* Due in part to various tightenings of legislation as I was told by Bohr's supplier. Ironically I've only seen his 1992 guide to Cambodia on the Internet Archive, in digital form. But at least it's preserved, and accessible.

A reasonable selection of used books at The Pub on St 174.

Parts of the experience of holding and reading paper feel lost in (digital/audiovisual) translation. Maybe I'm just accustomed to processing information and stories through the (admittedly paper-centric and less eco-friendly) means I grew up with. But, objectively, I have noticed that my eyes feel less stressed from staring at paper as opposed to digital print.

Roryborealis wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 7:37 pm But, objectively, I have noticed that my eyes feel less stressed from staring at paper as opposed to digital print.

That's definitely one of the advantages of print. If you can get hold of one of the earlier Kindle models without a backlight they are better in that regard, and less likely to disrupt sleep when you read in the evenings.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 8:07 pmI must set up my Kindle account again, they are good for reading but for some older, more obscure titles there won't be anything available. I miss Bohr's.

Internet Archive is an amazing resource, and you can find occasional gems.

https://archive.org/search?query=cambodia

Best read on a tablet using their proprietary viewer as the pdfs are often riddled with OCR errors and the converted epub files often scrambled beyond readability.

And the search functions are indispensable e.g.

https://archive.org/details/Intelligenc ... ter&q=fank

And documents are easy to quote from

Much of the Khmer resentment of the Vietnamese is based on real or imagined economic exploitation of the Khmer peasants by Vietnamese merchants. Strangely, there apparently is little resentment of the Chinese merchants.

a few sources for ebooks
z-library of course is my 1st go to: https://zlibrary-global.se/ need set up a free account
https://forum.mobilism.org/index.php
https://libgen.is/
https://annas-archive.org/
https://ebookbb.in/
I read alot