Hail the Bookshop!

I'm going to officially declare that nothing interesting has happened to me today, and I am going to turn off my computer (which is starting to do that screen-flickering thing) and try to catch up on my reading of some variety of printed material.

I leave my adoring fans with recent news from IndieBound, a site that helps people locate independent bookstores where one might procure such printed material. 

They feature handy book information pages, and suggest that when people discuss books online--say, in a blog--they link to this info, which will allow readers to click through to learn more about the book and perhaps purchase it from a local establishment.

I don't talk about books that much, but should I do so, will try to remember this feature. I love Amazon with a consuming passion, I won't deny it (they're so easy, and they have everything!), but I do also like to support independent local businesses. 

To demonstrate how it works, I'll just mention that I want to read this book, The Steel Remains. Now my adoring followers can click that link and see more information on the book, including a cover image (although oddly not full citation information since there's no publication date listed, so this is not necessarily a good source for your bibliographic details for RefWorks or whatnot).

They can then click to search the websites of bookstores near a given ZIP code that offer the book online, or to find a nearby bookstore if they prefer to go buy it in person.

Pretty handy. 

I got this from flip flopping joy.