BOOK STORES

Bookstores can be referred to as every booklover's and bookworm's paradise. Bookstores are places of great social gathering where many intellectual ideas are exchanged. These days, a book store does not limit itself to just selling books - other supplementary products like, newspapers and magazines are also sold. In some stores, apart from books, CDs, DVDs, MP3s and cassettes are also sold. The stores are not limited to concrete buildings any more but have even conquered the cyber world.

Book stores can be of various types like Christian book stores, Islamic book stores, used book stores, discount book stores, bargain book stores, online book stores, popular book stores, independent book stores, university book stores, children book stores and adult book stores. On the online book stores, a newest thing introduced to the book lovers, one just has to sit in front of the computer and with a click of the mouse get access to his/her favorite book.

Bookstore tourism is also very much in vogue, this encourages independent bookstores as a travel destination. This is mainly done to compete with the corporate bookstore chains. Apart from the commercial benefits acquired, the bookstore tourism also encourages reading and literacy.

Names of some of the major book store chains operating across the globe:

•  Crossword book stores

•  HigginBothams

•  Landmark Bookshops

•  Odyssey Bookshops

•  Oxford Bookstores

•  Family Christian stores

•  Barnes & Noble

Bookstores can be of any size and shape. The large book stores sometimes exceed half a million titles and the small ones can have a few hundred books. Apart from the corporate stores and independent stores, every small university and college has a bookstore of its own.