Where do you buy your books?

I buy from Amazon and a company called Abebooks when I buy online.
For physical stores, there's Borders, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million and Carmichael's for new books. There are two good used bookstores here.

Borders, mainly. Now that I'm living in town again, there's a Borders just five minutes away. It's a baby Borders and nothing like the full grown one in Ann Arbor, but I can order anything I want and have it sent there (no shipping cost, no payment if I decide not to purchase it!)

I still do some shopping on Amazon, but I'm not real thrilled with them. (The whole kerfluffle with Print on Demand services and a previous issue with ebooks.)

Now, I just wish I had more time and money I could put towards reading. =/

... used bookstore by me, up until it went out of business last year :-(

Actually the bookstore I really miss is the original Borders in Ann Arbor--the one in the old row house off campus where each room had its theme/genre--including the bathroom! It's been long gone, but I really really do miss that place.

Nowadays, I either go to B&N (chai tea too!) or get the books off Amazon. Amazon's the easiest option, though.

Barnes and Noble, sirs--rockin' the employee discount!

...And giving my money back to my employer. Yeah, I know.

Mostly Borders. Waterstone's just doesn't have the same choice. There are no second hand stores in my home town now; they've all been taken over by TV rental places or clothes shops.

Barnes and Noble, usually. We have one about five minutes away.

Z, I buy both online and at Borders. We have a B&N nearby too but I rarely go there.
One option you may want to consider is, if you have a book in mind why not visit the publisher's website? I'll bet the book won't be out of stock there, unless it's no longer in print.
I admit that I prefer to hold a book in my hands so if I can I but in a store. I also like it that in doing so I'm supporting a business that employs locals and pays taxes to my community.
C

Joseph Beth, the Cincinnati store--aka the best bookstore on Earth: http://www.josephbeth.com/

Amazon for most things, occassionally i pop into WHSmith (only 'book' store in town) but their shop seems to make my toddler cry for some reason, so hurrah for Amazon!

In town I buy books at Coles in the mall, the drug store, Wal Mart or Zellers. If I'm out of town I head straight for the nearest Indigo/Chapters. The Chapters in Belleville or Peterborough are awesome; the one in Oshawa . . . not so much.

The best way to buy books is online, but I'll have to get my credit cards paid down a bit before I can start that again.

Amazon if I'm shopping online (though I sometimes buy through their retailers). Chapters/Indigo if I'm shopping in person and looking for new books. There are also some secondhand bookstores that I haunt.

As a Michigan guy, I used to be a Borders fan but eventually I found their discount program too restrictive. Now I'm doing my brick-and-mortar new-book shopping at Barnes & Noble. The membership pays for itself pretty quickly.

I order books from Amazon occasionally, but I'm more likely to go through them for exotic CD's and DVD's.

A local library runs a used bookstore out of a back room. Lately I've been grabbing books by the sack at least once a week.

Good question!

Online: Amazon
In person: Strand (NY) when I go downtown and B&N now since there are about 50 of them near my apartment.

I used to love this new/used bookstore that had two storefronts with Murder Inc. on one side that sold only mystery, thriller/suspense, and horror. Ivy's Books was on the other side with lit fiction and just about everything else. It closed a few years ago which was a shame to see. About four or five small bookshops closed in my neighborhood over the last 5-10 years because of the economy and the outrageous commercial rental costs in NYC. If I had my choice it would be a neighborhood Mom & Pop operation that would get most of my business but no more of those left here

Nadja

Border's books FTW.

I support my local independant bookstore when I can, but when money's tight I go amazon.ca. The local store charges full Canadian price all the time, and amazon always comes in way cheaper.

B&N most of the time because I love browsing. Amazon when I can't find the book at B&N.

If I'm in a town with a great independent bookstore, I love cruising through there too. We don't have one where I live.

Whatever bookstore crosses my path. I can be seduced by B&N, Borders, independents, used bookstores, supermarket thriller-and-romance racks, drugstore offerings, you name it. I am also personally responsible for about 1/4 of Amazon's yearly profit, I think.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Costco (big box store), once-a-year massive used book sale for charity, library back room sale, used book stores, yard sales. So, pretty much any place that sells books.

MM
why, yes, I am an addict

Barnes and Noble, because I love to browse.

Amazon if I know what I want and can't make it to B&N.

Borders if I happen to be in that shopping center (it's farther away than B&N).

Used bookstores online if all else fails.

I buy from e-harlequin or amazon.ca.. Occasionally I will drop into a local book store.

I wouldn't give up Amazon, the chains or the independents, but there's something glorious about used bookstores that goes beyond price. I love the smell of the old books and randomness of the selection. I remember Denver in the mid-1980's and just walking East Colfax downtown. It seemed like every third storefront was a used bookstore, and each one would have something I wanted. I would spend a day browsing and buying until my arms couldn't hold any more books!

Amazon owes me a thank you card and probably some stock benefits. I buy all sorts of things there, not just books.

Although for e-books, I usually buy direct from the publisher.