Weasel | 15 Sep 2014 11:46 a.m. PST |
So when we're at the mall, I usually swing by the book store to see if there's anything interesting. Most of the time, I just end up grabbing a paperback novel or checking the bargain shelf for something with tanks for the kid, but I'll always swing through their history section and scan it. Let's say there are 100 about world war 2. The break down will be: 35 books about the US army. 55 books about the Wehrmacht and SS. 7 books about Nazi occultism and conspiracy nonsense. 2 books about the British in Africa and 1 book saying Stalin was evil. One could be forgiven for thinking that the war was between Germany and the United States and the Nazi's won. Luckily, since my wife is taking college classes, I have access to the excellent college library which has tons of cool stuff on the shelves. |
Glengarry5 | 15 Sep 2014 11:54 a.m. PST |
You should look at it from the Canadian perspective. For years we were lucky to even get mentioned that we were involved in the war in books about WW2, being namelessly shelved under the broad category of "British". Historians are better these days of distinguishing Canadians and other "small" nations of WW2. |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 15 Sep 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
I hear you. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy/cycle: What a bookstore stocks usually are what's 'current' right now. What's 'current' are what authors published recently. What an author would write depends on what's 'popular,' or what they think people are 'interested in.' And what's 'popular,' or what authors believe most people are 'interested in,' are books about WWII, the US Army, and the Wehrmacht/Waffen SS. Other than that, you'll find quite a few books on Iraq/Afghanistan/the War on Terror also. |
boy wundyr x | 15 Sep 2014 12:39 p.m. PST |
I'm tired of those with subtitles of "The true story of…" or "The real Story of…" or "The secret story of…" or "The true, secret story of…" like people browsing history bookshelves need to be treated like grocery store tabloid readers. |
enfant perdus | 15 Sep 2014 12:48 p.m. PST |
+1 boy wundyr May I also add, "The incredible story of..", and such ilk, including amazing, unbelievable, bizarre, etc. Likewise, "How (X) Changed the Course of (the War, America, the West, Civilization, etc.)" |
Texas Jack | 15 Sep 2014 12:50 p.m. PST |
boy wundyr, donīt forget "the untold story of…" and, my personal favorite, "the behind the scenes story of…" Itīs kind of like "rare" on ebay. |
Rogues1 | 15 Sep 2014 12:54 p.m. PST |
I think you are lucky you found a bookstore still open in the mall. I work less than a mile from 2 malls and there are no bookstores open in them anymore. We have an independent one a few miles away but they are going away as fast as game stores. I also agree on the comments above, which is magnified even worse by the History Channel. |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 15 Sep 2014 1:01 p.m. PST |
I'm tired of those with subtitles of "The true story of…" or "The real Story of…" or "The secret story of…" or "The true, secret story of…" like people browsing history bookshelves need to be treated like grocery store tabloid readers. I stay away from those books. I find most of these 'true' or 'untold' stories rather boring to be honest. But publishers feel the need for these sensationalized titles to suck people in to shell out the $14.99 USD to $30.00 USD for these books. |
Lee Brilleaux | 15 Sep 2014 1:05 p.m. PST |
I keep meaning to cancel my membership in the History Book Club. Every month they offer me hagiographical books about dead US politicians, something about Patton's elite pay clerks, and something about Lincoln. All I have ever bought from them was a handful of books about the Romans. You'd think they know that. |
raylev3 | 15 Sep 2014 1:27 p.m. PST |
Basically book stores will sell what people are buying. In the US, people are more inclined to buy military histories involving the US. When I lived in England, the bookstores carried more on the Brits in WW2. This is all normal. And yes, in the UK the Canadians are lumped under the Brits… Of course, for some bizarre reason, interest in the SS goes way beyond the norm. |
OSchmidt | 15 Sep 2014 1:42 p.m. PST |
dear list Heh, Heh, Heh…. I feel for you guys. Here in my part of the country I have the PERFECT book store. First of all it deals ONLY in non-fiction books, STRICTLY, and it has a huge slection of old, rare, out of print books. All the books are in good condition AND the prices are very reasonable. I can get marvelous folio editions of the art of Watteau for example with huge full color illustrations for less than $70. USD There are huge selections on history and WWII and all the way back to the ancient world. Also has multi volume sets and stuff like that. The book store surfs the estate sales and picks up great stuff. Lots of stuff on the Civil War, Huge WWII selectons, lots of stuff on England, the Colonial period, has the peculiar Lacunae all book stores have on Germany before the Nappy Wars. Lots of medieval and ancient and section on science, philosophy etc. Otto |
zippyfusenet | 15 Sep 2014 3:10 p.m. PST |
The bookstores are near collapse. I rely heavily on the Edward R. Hamilton discount catalog. If I hear of an interesting specialist title I can usually chase it down on Amazon. And that's why the bookstores are near collapse. C'est la vie. |
Charlie 12 | 15 Sep 2014 5:53 p.m. PST |
Too true. Brick and mortar bookstores are a dying breed. Me, if its new, I'll hit Amazon. For OOP, I hit Alibris or Abe Books. The last two are listing sites that the indy stores can tie into, thereby increasing their customer base (about the only way an indy can hope to stay alive). This year, I've ordered books from the UK, Australia, Germany and the US; all through Alibris or Abe Books. Locally, I know of only one mall (of the 8 in town) that has a B&N (and I don't see that one lasting). As for the OP and the selection problem: Bookstores have to stock what sells. Period. Full stop. NO store could hope to survive if it tried to cater to the ultra-niche tastes of the likes of us on this forum. So get used to it (and don't blame the bookstores for trying to just survive…). |
Cold Steel | 15 Sep 2014 6:22 p.m. PST |
My daughter is the asst. manager of the only book store in town. Like coastal2 says, they stock what sells. If it wasn't for Harry Potter and similar populist tripe, they would have closed a couple years ago. |
Parzival | 15 Sep 2014 6:35 p.m. PST |
What an author would write depends on what's 'popular,' or what they think people are 'interested in.' Nope. Authors tend to write about what they're interested in. Publishers, on the other hand, tend to go for what they think people are interested in, depending on who's running the show at that particular house. |
The Beast Rampant | 15 Sep 2014 9:34 p.m. PST |
Nobody else's bookstores have tons of Vietnam-to-modern stuff, with lots of Seals and snipers and such? Always seems to me to be at least 20% of the stock. If I can find what I want in a B&M, I buy it, but it seems my pre-AmRev interests are not trending well. So, online I go. |
Spudeus | 16 Sep 2014 7:56 a.m. PST |
Last bookstore I went to had a Military History section, but it consisted of an estimated 35% ACW, over 50% WW2, 10% modern warfare, and a smattering of WWI/Vietnam. The AWI and all other European / Asian wars were mixed in with 'World History.' I just thought that was odd, shouldn't all military histories be in, well, Military History? |
Henry Martini | 16 Sep 2014 4:35 p.m. PST |
That's been the typical pattern here in Oz, too, Spudeus, for as long as I can remember. I've always understood that, unless the shop has a stock of Ospreys on a proprietary stand, Military History starts with WW1; for anything else I go straight to the history section. |
Great War Ace | 16 Sep 2014 5:11 p.m. PST |
So when we're at the mall, I usually swing by the book store… Your mall has a book store? Incredible. Your book store has a "History" section worthy of the name? Even more incredible. I remember when all malls had one or more book stores, and each book store had a sizeable "History" section. Now all of the malls have zero book stores, and the few book stores that are left are either Bones and Narble or mostly gift shops that once were real book stores. There is ONE exception to this denouement: but that business is now mostly into used/rare books, which has its own appeal to be sure, but is hardly up to stocking new publications…. |
Weasel | 16 Sep 2014 11:25 p.m. PST |
It's a Barnes & Nobles but I think they make more money from CD's and whatnot these days. THough it seems pretty busy when I go in there. At least we have Powell's. |