For more than twenty years people watching the internet grow have declared that soon we will be a paperless society. In the last ten years as E-book and portable appliances have become popular the doomsayers have said publishing and printed books are at the end of their time. Tell that to Harry Potter. The boy wizard and his 12 million book first-run publishing records prove what book lovers have always known. Books are here to stay. There is no experience like sitting down with a hard cover book in your hands. Does that mean the internet has to stay out of our reading? Absolutely not. Online shopping has made a reader's life better by far.

Go To The Master

When you think of bookstores the national chain that instantly comes to mind is Barnes and Nobles, the mammoth bookseller with walls lined in books and a cafe in every bookstore. People, who live in rural areas, are shut-in for some reason and cannot leave the house or folks that just like to shop online will benefit from their website http://bn.com. First run books are there and able to pre-ordered. Delivery charges are minimum and there are reviews, book clubs and interviews through their "meet the writers" series. You also can buy a host of Barnes and Nobles exclusives. The only minus to their site is that Barnes and Nobles members save 10% with their card in the store and only 5% online.

New Book At A Used Price

For people who love to read or have limited book budgets, used books has always been the way to keep a book in the hand and money in the bank. The best place online for used books is http://Amazon.com. Look up any book, even ones that are rare, out of print or self published, and you'll find them on Amazon. Just clicked the "used" tab under any book selection and you'll see a comparative list of people selling the book and its general condition. Frequently you can get a new book for the cheap price of a used. The bonus to Amazon's used booksellers is that the money is processed through Amazon so you purchase the same way you would a new item and the product is guaranteed by Amazon making your transaction safe.

An Eye For Art

Art books, those expensive coffee table editions of everything from pictures of mosaic vases to surreal photos of painted doors, are hard to find. They are also a pain to buy online and have shipped because of their size and weight. The best sight for rare and oversized books is http://strandbooks.com. Strand is a retailer of art books who also carries some rare finds. You can purchase issues of the Talmud painstakingly translated or a book on the art work of H. G. Giger. Their inexpensive shipping and wild selection make Strand books the place to go for an adventure online.

Reading isn't simply an intellectual pursuit it is a physical one. The less work you do to acquire the book, the more energy you'll have to enjoy it.