As much as I hate to say this, but I hardly use physical bookstores anymore. Most of them are just as commercial as their online counterparts but with limited space. And the limited space they have they mostly spend on stacks of the same shitty best-sellers with glowing reviews. The books I come for are hardly ever at hand, so I will have to order them, which is what I would do in an online bookstore anyway. Moreover, I am switching to ebooks more and more. Less to drag around when I move house.

I will make a big exception for second-hand bookstores though. The character of a second-hand shop is very hard to replicate online, as is the opportunity for serendipity. Every online shop has a search function that beats the life out of chance finds. In a second-hand shop you may happen upon a book that has been sitting on a shelf for years (maybe even misplaced) waiting just for you. I cannot resist that siren call.

I visited the US last year. In a charming little second-hand bookstore (including a grumpy owner) in Flagstaff I chanced upon the collected works of Carol Shields. I had never heard of her but she may well turn out to be a literary love for life. Thank you, grumpy owner.