bookstore

In a move that's decidedly backward in the minds of many ereader adopters, one bookstore in Portland, OR, is offering to exchange your Kindle for its worth in free books. Its website reads:

"Do you love print? Do you still read books? Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? Do you want to trade in your soulless faux-literary technology for its worth in good old-fashioned books?"

Since I love my Kindle, there's no chance I'd let it go, but I suppose this is an appealing option for people who don't want to hang onto an unwanted ereader. Still, it's worth mentioning that even this devout ereader fan thinks that traditional ink-and-paper books are a wonderful thing!

Would you ever ditch your beloved ereader to go back to the originals?

Christin Evans takes the cake this week for the ultimate dream job, because The Booksmith owner is doing her community a great service by matching up book lovers with great finds. In addition to that, she's also breathing life into the floundering breed of independent bookstores, which are being overwhelmed by Borders, eBooks, and sites like Amazon. Christin and her husband, Praveen Madan, bought the San Francisco-based bookstore three years ago, and have never looked back to their previous corporate and business suit-filled lives.

SavvySugar: How did you get into this?

Christin Evans: I was actually a management consultant for many years and helped big companies get bigger. After I had done that very successfully for many years, I kind of got to the point where I said am I having an impact or am I just helping Microsoft get bigger or helping Bill Gates get richer? So I took some time off, and spent a year thinking about a lot of different business ideas. Then I stumbled on the idea that independent bookstores really haven't been recreated for the 21st century. Most independent bookstores were started 20, 30, 40 years ago by book lovers who really nurtured their stores during the hay day of paper and hardcover books. But then with the arrival of chain stores, then Amazon, now eBooks, there continues to be lots of pressures on independent bookstores. Over a decade ago, there were more than 5,000 bookstores in the U.S. and now there are fewer than 1,200, as measured by the American Booksellers Association membership. The way I came into this job is because I found it an intellectual challenge, I was always a reader, but I also saw it as an opportunity to try to create an independent bookstore that would be able to sustain . . . thrive in a technology era.

To read more about Christin's wonderfully bookish life, read on!

A lot of you chimed in on the goodbye post I dedicated to the closing of my local Borders. I'm still reeling from the loss (no more free WiFi and treasure trove of books!) and don't know what I'm going to replace it with. Seems like many of you had something to say; perhaps it's because we're all surviving this economic downturn together and stores closings are sadly a common sight in these times.

• Independent bookstores are great, but there's nothing like a Borders. They closed my favorite one, too. There's one in the mall, but it's not nearly as nice as the old stand alone one. I miss it terribly! — bellakaoru
• It bothers me, because I prefer books. I think the other options are great for traveling & better for the environment. But if they used recycled materials to make books it wouldn't be so environmentally damaging. And I love to visit the bookstores & browse or look through a magazine too. Online just isn't the same. — Anonymous
• Hmm I don't know, I'd be sadder if an independent book store closed. — RoaringSilence
• Thankfully, I live in a city that hasn't been as affected by the recession as most of the country (Washington, D.C.). However, my hometown is a suburb of Cleveland and it's quite the opposite there, in that the recession seemed to hit that area before it hit the rest of the country. And, many local business closed, including a wonderful local book store my family regularly patronized. Like RoaringSilence, that affected me more than if a Borders had closed. My current favorite book store is a place with rooms upon rooms of used books. I don't think they will ever close, but I would be very sad if they did! — lilkimbo
• Thankfully, the library is always there! I don't go to bookstores at all. — amber512

Find out what others have to say, after the jump.