It Makes Me A Little Sad

For as long as I can remember I have been a book worm. Some of my clearest memories of early childhood are of my nan reading books to me (Heidi, Pollyanna and Black Beauty were favourites) and my granddad making up stories for me about a donkey called Ned and the farm he lived on. Books have always been a big part of my life and as a result of this some of my favourite places are book shops.

When I was younger, book shops were my safe haven. A place I could escape too surrounded by passports to a different place where I could get lost in the adventures of somebody else for a while. By the time I was in my early teens (and probably for a few years before) books were my escape from a world I hated and didn't feel I belonged. I was happiest when I was lost between a books pages.

Over the last couple of years, my little havens having been disappearing. The bookshops I grew up loving - and where the staff grew to know me - began closing. Today, other than supermarkets - there is just one shop in town that sells books - W H SMiths. But even Smiths - which one had quite a nice selection of books - has been decreasing it's numbers. My local store sells a lot of toys now. A part of me doubts that store will remain much longer. I haven't really been in there for months - work having taken up a lot of my time - so it was something of a shock to see the primarily empty shelves - in a shop far too quiet. The staff seemed to regard me - a customer - with confusion.

What was my town's Waterstones (now closed for around a year) is slowly being stripped out and no longer bares any trace of the bookshop it once was - and the lovely indie book shop is now a gift shop.

I miss book shops. I miss browsing the shelves. Shopping online just isn't the same - you can't feel the book and there's something about the smell of a bookshop that I love. I miss being able to talk to staff who were able to suggest books to me or who were always willing to help me order in books - even letting me use the computer systems myself. You don't get that with Amazon.