Bookshops - home and abroad

Last week I was on holiday in Switzerland. One thing that being out of your normal surroundings offers is the chance to see how other countries do things.

I'm always struck by how many more independent bookshops there are abroad than now seems the case in the UK.  Last year when I was in Palma, Majorca, I walked down a street in the old town and found three of significant size. 

It wasn't any different in Switzerland.  In Interlaken where I was based last week, I saw three among all the tourist shops. 

Now I'm not sure how their publishing and bookselling industry is organised but maybe there aren't the same overwhelming constricting deals with large supermarkets and chains over there.  The two big supermarket groups in Switzerland are Migros and Coop.(no I haven't missed out the hyphen.  That's how they spell it over there.)

And yes they did have books and magazines  like in our giants but that didn't seem to have throttled the smaller shops.  Maybe I'm looking at things through rose coloured glasses but I'd like to believe that the independents are thriving. 

I'm looking to buy some books but I want to browse among the topic before I buy.  On Amazon I need to do searches and even with their search inside facility it doesn't give me the same feeling as having the book in my hand..  In Waterstones I'm looking at what people think is commercial and will sell.  On two occasions this year I've searched for what seem to be significant authors in a certain field.  Not only were they not represented on the shelves in the Nottingham Waterstones, they didn't even appear in their online availability.  This despite them being available on Amazon.

But please, I want to look first before I buy.  Is that too much to ask?

Is it just me or are you as frustrated in your book buying?

Bookshops and their future

Two weeks ago I spent a week in Mallorca including a visit to Palma. Lovely city and a great place to linger.

What struck me walking round was the number of bookshops. Coming from Nottingham where a decent bookshop is becoming harder to find (Waterstone's aside), it amazed me that in a side street in the old city, I found not one, not two but three separate bookshops plus a shop selling regional food which had a substantial book section.

And I hadn't even been round the main shopping centre so I have no idea how many I would have found there. Given that Palma has about the same population as Nottingham, it made me really sad that we seemed to have lost that popping into a bookshop habit, corralled as we are by Amazon and the supermarkets.

Is it any better in your area?