The joy of browsing

For some reason I've been all rah-rah independent bookstores the last few days, and really down on Amazon (despite my having ordered a new coffeemaker and some pickling salt from them in the past couple of weeks). I got really steamed reading some guy's comment on a blog about how he hasn't bothered to set foot in a real bookstore in 5 years because he can find everything he wants to read on Amazon.

Can he? Can he really?

Bookstores are such wonderful places to browse. Even the smallest shop contains delightful surprises. People who know exactly what they want to read and don't enjoy the serendipity of coming across something unexpected are such bores. They have no "scope for imagination," as dear old Anne Shirley said in Anne of Green Gables.

Just look at what I've stumbled across today. And it's not even lunchtime yet!

From our insects section. Fun fact: tarantulas are known as mata-caballos, or horse-killers, in Latin America.

From our general science section. AMAZING artwork from old issues of Popular Mechanics.

From our crime section (which is probably not the best place to shelve it). Excerpt: "If you think the choice between flogging and prison is a false choice, that there should be a third option, go right ahead and propose it."

From our garden essays section. The less said, the better.

From our language section. Now I'm peckish for jelly babies, roly-poly, and spotted dick.

From our pop culture section. Most of these dolls are, in fact, very creepy.