Poll: Reading Books in Bookstores - Your thoughts?

[Lovely Mixture]

I am an American currently studying abroad in Japan. My experience has had its ups and downs so far, but one realization has been more notable than the others.

In Japanese Bookstores, all graphic novels are sealed and cannot be read unless bought. As an American who loves graphic novels with a passion this is quite distressing for me because in America the books are not sealed.

So in an effort to broaden the discussion, I ask you the question: Do you think reading unsold books in bookstores is allowable?

I'm not asking whether or not it's within the rights of stores to seal their books (however, you can answer that question if you desire), I'm asking if you think it's right.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Well I need to be able to see a few pages of the book to decide really if I want to buy it.
Sometimes the back cover just isn't enough.
Some books don't even put information on the back cover...

 

[Fappy]

If you go into any comic book store in the US they will tell you it's frownded upon. There's no problem with flipping through a few pages to see if you'll like it, but people running these shops need to keep an eye on those trying to read stuff for free. I think sealing it is going a little far, but then maybe it would be a worse problem over there than it would be here were they to cease sealing books.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Well, my experience has only been in Barnes & Noble, and they don't seem to care. I've never seen anyone told to stop reading, and hell, I've read through an entire book while waiting for my mom and sis to get done with their looking around/shopping.

 

[Silent_suicide]

I don't have a problem with it personally, as people have said before, sometimes the back cover of a book just isn't enough to justify the purchase by itself. My local bookshop (Waterstones) has everything open, asides from two or three runs of graphic novels. I know that Highschool Of The Dead's amongst these, I can't recall the others.

I don't tend to do it myself though, I normally shop alone, and I get incredibly self-conscious when in shops.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I'm a librarian... so... I have no problems with it whatsoever. Read all you want. If you like it and want to support the author, buy it. If you're a cheap bastard, that'll catch up with you in time anyway.

Read away. As long as people are reading, I'm happy. Don't care how or what.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

snip

I don't agree with sealing regular books because, as EclpsedDragon pointed out, the back cover often doesn't give you a clear idea of what the book is about. More importantly, it helps if you can get an idea of the author's style; I've read books with a fantastic premise, but the way the author wrote was either terrible or just not my taste.

That said, I do agree with sealing manga/comic books and rulebooks. I've not read a lot of the former, but I blazed through Scott Pilgrim in about 15 minutes a book (though I reread them at a slower pace). When they are that short, it's easy to just walk into a shop, read a couple and walk out, which means you're not buying it. Also, most comics are fairly cheap compared to books ($5-10 for comic vs. $15-20 for books), which means that your not risking a large amount of money.

I've also got no problem with rulebooks (like Dungeons and Dragons or other tabletop RPGs) being sealed, mostly because most of the specialty ones will not be that large, or have only a bit of information that you want. It's too easy to just walk into a shop, take a few pictures with your phone and walk out with new paragon paths for D&D, or even an entire rulebook for something like Apocalypse World.

 

[NinjaSniperAssassin]

I do it all the time. I absolutely love browsing through the books in Chapters for a couple hours, reading the first few pages of a bunch of books and buying any that particularly catch my interest. I've done it at uni a couple times as well, but they watch you like hawks there.

 

[Esotera]

I think it's fine as long as you're just flipping through, and if you do it for a long period you should at least buy something from the shop. It's sort of taking the piss a bit if you read various books for hours then leave without buying anything.

 

[MammothBlade]

Yes, but bookshops don't make any money that way. They could probably profit from it if they had an in-store cafe (like borders used to, I think) in the hope people will stay for longer and buy some tea and biscuits even if they are reading for free..

 

[Scarim Coral]

I don't really read the book itself in the bookstore althought I glance a few pages in a graphic novel. I supoose I don't have plenty of time to read a chapter of a book to get an opinion of it so the summary/ description at the back had to suffice.
Anyway I don't think it should be allow since it kind of rude to do so especially if you don't buy it in the end.

 

[DementedSheep]

Reading an entire book in a store and not buying it? yeah thats wrong and should not be allowed but flipping through them and reading some if it is fine. I don?t think many people actually go through and read an entire book in the store (I say "many" because there always someone somewhere). I usually read a chapter or so to see if it?s actually good. Just going off the description isn?t enough. I need to know if I actually like the way it?s written or I?m not going to buy it. I don?t think there is any real reason to seal them

Comics however are a more difficult because people do just read the entire thing in the store and not buy it. I can understand stores sealing them but once again if they are sealed and I can?t see what actual comic is like and whether I like the writing or the art (especially since the cover artist is often not the same person doing the panels and the cover may have nothing to do with the book itself) I won?t buy them unless I'm already familiar with the series. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess. I'm curious as to whether there are any sale statics with sealed and unsealed comic books.