They too are an Evil Empire to be avoided if at all possible.

Oh, I wanted to add that I was listening to a podcast about sleep and the human body, Huberman Lab, and he does not like the screen light from computers late at night as they can interrupt the sleep cycle. This is a great podcast, he is a professor at Stanford.

I like the feel of books, I like to write in the margins, I like the way they sit on a shelf looking out at you making sure they are noticed. I also listen to books, and I have when I have the money read and listen to the same book at the same time. I also will support any local business. Unfortunately, the book stores here are geared towards tourists, so when I am flush, I order through them, when not I order from Powells books in Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, I buy a lot of technical stuff, which I am trying to cut down on, I mean I do not think I have a future in Mathematical Physics, I am seventy. Support local in everything else.

I strongly agree with supporting local businesses.

But I have to admit I seldom buy printed books any more. I use a Kindle these days and it's much lighter and more convenient. Not only can I carry pretty much my entire library (recreational and technical) in my pocket now but ebooks are usually cheaper than printed.

And all my music comes along as well.

I dislike how Amazon treats its employees and the greed of its owner but I'm an avid reader and have been my entire life. Books are simply a part of my life. I am far from wealthy. If I were wealthy I wouldn't worry about the cost 3 or 4 books a month. But that's not the case. The convenience of having books delivered directly to me, the huge selection, and the prices Amazon offers is immensely helpful. I don't wish to spend hours every month driving dozens of miles from bookstore to bookstore.

Also, I only know of two used bookstores near me. The rest are chains (Barnes & Noble and 2nd & Charles).

First it was Barnes and Nobel, Waldens and other chains that killed many small book stores. Then Amazon blew up and almost killed most of the chain stores. For many areas of the country Amazons, if not the only option available, one of few for anyone not looking for NYT bestsellers or movie adaptations. Rare and specialty books have an online niche for small distributors, but the small privately owned walk in bookstore is mostly a quaint relic at this point, cute but hard to find outside of big cities.

You will soon experience a big wealth spike. ( When you stop spending on things you don't really need. )

Years ago I signed up for Amazon to buy a book, then I lost my password, so I tried to use their recovery procedure to get it back, without success. So then I tried to open a new account and they flagged me as a fraud, and barred me. But now ten years or more down the line, they are no longer honest booksellers anymore, and I have probably saved enough money by not buying their rubbish, to pay for my next good holiday. Big win.

PS. there are still a lot of real and good bookshops, who sell online.

There are no bookstores in Wenatchee, WA after Walmart drove them out. Local quality stores went out of business.

Big box stores including Walmart don't have what I need. I go online to find:

1. Narrow shoes and boots. The American obesity epidemic made feet wider.

2. Small clothing sizes. Guess why?

3. Specialty items like zipper sliders/pulls in a specific size, windowsill rooting containers with holes in the bottom and trays, etc.

4. Hiking clothes and equipment, and more.