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Finding Tastemakers

Interesting move to keep independent book-stores alive in France. Coming from a place and time where scarcity of books was common and buying one was a very intentional process, I find that abundance made me a lazy reader over the years. There is no penalty to skim the first few chapters of the book and decide to stop there and repeat that process twenty times in a month. All books are digital and borrowed from the public library. 

The fact there is so much to just sift through makes the desire to go browse the offerings at an independent book store less attractive. This is not even counting the ease of ordering a book on Amazon. What I have missed over the years is a trusty guide who is there to help you navigate through this excess and connect you to what you will love from start to finish. 

I wish instead of my infinite sampling platter, I could focus on a handful of books that truly enriched my life. Despite the overload of information about everything including books, finding those who can expertly navigate us through the amazing world of reading seems harder than ever. Maybe that is the real reason independent book-stores can and will succeed, Those store-owners can help folks like me learn about books that would change our lives and yet we would have never known about that - that is the value and for that paying a little extra is entirely worthwhile.

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