The World of Books and Reading in the Netherlands

I have
been thinking a lot about where my first blog should be about. And after a lot
of thinking I decided it’s going to be about the book industry here in the
Netherlands. Because the book industry here in the Netherlands is just sad. We
have all heard about the recession and people who are losing their jobs and
their houses but what I heard a couple of weeks ago shocked me to the core. One
of the biggest bookstores in this country is broke. There’s no money left and
the doors of their stores are closed. The moment I heard my mouth fell open and
I didn’t know what to say for almost an hour. Bookstores bankrupted?? Broke??
How on earth is that possible??

At that
moment I realized that I’m born in the wrong country!!

I have always been kind
of a loner when it comes to my book addiction. Some of my family members read,
like my mom and my aunt, some of my colleagues read but nobody I know reads as
much as I do. Apart from my family I can’t talk with anybody about books, and
now bookstores are closing. People just don’t buy books anymore. And that just
makes me sad. The tradition my mom and I had when we went shopping in Amsterdam
is just not the same anymore. My favorite bookstore ‘The Waterstones’ is there but
her Dutch bookstore is gone. Well not entirely. The store is open waiting to be
bought by an rich man or woman.. but I begin to think that there’s no hope for
them left.. and that’s just sad. People don’t talk much about books here in the
Netherlands, there aren’t many things organized regarding books here. So I go on
the internet, on Goodreads, Twitter and Facebook and I read many book blogs
written in Great Britian and the USA and that way I still feel connected to all
the other booklovers out there.