The Guardian carried a report on the state of independent bookstores in the UK today. Interesting mix of views about the future of these community-based stores. If you thought books were expensive in Asia, take a look at the prices quoted in this piece!

In Singapore, we have Select Books at Tanglin Shopping Centre. We used to have Skoob Books, but they went out of the retail business because they couldn't afford retail space rentals. Recently, Research Books at UE Sqaure also closed. Knowing that the stuggle of indie bookstores is a world-wide phenomenon... will the likes of Select Books survive? I certainly hope they can and do survive... not just because we need them professionally, but for me personally, it's such a joy of a place to go to!