What an excellent article. I have lived bookshops since I was young, I always felt like I might find something amazing and secret in them. They held a kind of

What an excellent article. I have lived bookshops since I was young, I always felt like I might find something amazing and secret in them. They held a kind of mystic for me (1990s). This changed in the 2000s. I do miss the massive borders books we had. I do have to say the all the Waterstones I've been into in the last 15 years have all those toys, calenders, etc the OP doesn't like; and the bigger stores all have Costas. I don't buy books now, I just go to the library.