Musing Monday ~ Going Local

This week Musing Monday asks:

How do you choose what do buy from your local bookstore? Do you have a list, or just browse? What is the selection in your book store like? Do you find what you're looking for? Do you feel pressured to buy the kind of books the store makes prominent? (question courtesy of MizB)

This one is easy! First, we live outside of a small town and there is only one bookstore. It opened last year and it's a branch from a Christian bookstore from another town 30 miles from here.

How do I choose? I have a little notebook that I keep in my purse and it has a list of the books I want to buy. Mostly that list consists of completing series that I've started or just books that I really, really want. (I also have a list of other people's recommendations and books I just want to read but not necessarily buy. It's my TBR notebook!)

So, first I go through the clearance stack of books to see if any are there that are on my "buy" list and if they are I snatch them up fast. Sometimes I find a book in that stack that isn't on my list but I can't resist it. Then I look through the regular priced books and drool. I don't usually buy these. I just torture myself with them.

The selection in this store is pretty small since it's a small town and a small branch. They usually only carry the most recent books that have come out because they don't have room for more, so I don't always find what I'm looking for there. It is also a good thing, though, because it means they rotate books out to the clearance area regularly! But for such a small store, they carry a wide variety of topics - fiction, non-fiction, children's, teens, Bibles, DVD's (you can rent DVDs there too for $2!). They also carry greeting cards, T-shirts, figurines, wall art, etc.

Everything in there is Christian so I guess that last question isn't relevant here. But I also like going to the bigger town and browsing through B&N, another Christian bookstore, and the used bookstore. And I don't ever feel pressured to buy the books that the store makes prominent.