The closing of Border’s Books has reminded me of an Atlanta bookstore that closed several years ago, one that I loved and was sad to lose. Oxford Books. Oxford Books wasn’t a chain, but an independent bookstore on multiple sites. Oxford Books (the main store) had a cafe, sold new books, magazines, newspapers and held frequent book signings; while Oxford Books, Too sold used books. Both are now closed. Only Oxford Comics and Games still remains. There was a time when I shopped used bookstores more often than the big chains and now with Border’s gone I thought I might revive that tradition.
Yesterday I visited Books Galore in Watkinsville, GA. They’ve been in business for twenty-three years, selling used books and new books by special order. I knew the minute I saw the tall shelves, filled from top to very bottom, I was home.
Their shelves are full of a wide variety of new and old fiction, everything from Adult to YA and Children’s books. Non-fiction was on the light side, but not non-existent. I was most pleased by the large SciFi/Fantasy section. 🙂
I settled on Day One by John Maccabee (1978). This is from the back cover:
They were loosing a monster on the world: Y 15, a killer virus. It was the ultimate weapon of biological warfare, the perfect perversion of the double helix, man tinkering with the basic molecule of life, DNA–and using it to murder.
When was the last time you visited a used bookstore or a local independent bookstore?
Amanda Makepeace's Imagination Run Amok 
The scifi section of Books Galore looks mighty fine. I’d be thrilled to have a peek at their stock. 😀
Next month I’m going to visit a place not too far from here called Odd’s and End’s. They are suppose to have a quite a lot of books too. Don’t you love Used Bookstores? I always think about the history of a book–who it’s first owner was, etc.