So my little Visit to Atomic Books in Baltimore on Saturday really opened my eyes to the life of the Indie bookstore (the intelligent ones) in the modern world. What warms my heart is to learn that indie bookstores with the right amount of savvy can hold on in the Barnes & Noble culture.
Of course, I've long developed the theory that B&N and Borders have turned into the Starbucks of bookstores and, so, now, are catering only to the idiot culture. Just in time, since there's still a heathy sub-culture of indies on the streets.
While Amazon has drawn me away from bookstores, I've now become an Atomic Books devotee... Mainly because their shelves are crammed with the shit I look for far and wide, even with the etailers, to find. They're also the last outlet on the East Coast for good Zines. See/Hear in NYC is closed, Tower Records axed their zine collection because of PC/family shopper issues, the last little hole in the walls in DC died when B&N first moved in a decade ago...
If it's a zine, it's at Atomic. And the beautiful hippie girls and alterna-punk girls and angry looking spiked-hair guys are all there buying them up, along with good books and great authors.
Oh, and they have mailorder:
http://atomicbooks.com/And here's a daily Nacho book suggestion. Monday...that probably inspired the selection:
http://atomicbooks.com/products/-/10760.html
