The problem with polling for “best-of’s” is that it often rewards the uninspired. It champions the established instead of rewarding the undiscovered.
And it leaves little room for new voices.
Knowing this, I didn’t jump at the chance to troll through the Statesman-Journal’s new best of rankings.
Also, I had read on the Eatsalem blog that Salem had once voted Olive Garden as the best Italian restaurant, offering the first of many reasons to discount the rankings.
Or at least to trust my own tastebuds against the madding crowd’s.
But I finally got curious. What are these polls other than a means to get mad — to direct your pent-up anger at everything you can’t control in the world to a poll you can’t really affect. So I went to the site, started leafing through the pages, was pretty unsurprised, until I came across this:
Salem voted Borders best bookstore.
Grumble Grumble Grumble.
REEAAAAGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Emily Angry!
Salemites, you don’t know how good you have it. You have a handful of bookstores selling quality used paperbacks, and you have two independent bookstores where you can pick up new books.
More importantly, you have BOOKSELLERS at the Book Bin and Tea Party Bookshoppe that hand-pick books for you based not just on what the market says will sell — read: WHO THEY THINK YOU ARE — but on the kind of books that will transform your lives.
If you don’t know this yet, than you haven’t engaged a bookseller in a frank discussion of your literary needs. The best of them won’t give you something based on what you already like, but on what you have to read, right now, OR DIE.
Now, I can’t say I’ve never been in Borders. I too have been lured in by free smoothie samples and table upon table of Twilight and Twilight-like products. Sometimes, when I need a specific book and I need it fast, I might stop there on my way home and yes, buy a book at Borders.
But I know what it’s like to live in a city where there aren’t any other options than the big-box shop. You step into one — and you could be anywhere in the world.
Shouldn’t best of mean more than just biggest and most comfortable brand?
That reminds me. I’m going to come up with my own best-of’s. I encourage you to do the same. Stay tuned.
Grr! That makes me angry too! I love my Reader’s Guide and The Tea Party, and the now closed Treasure Island Books. We have so many used or local bookstores in Salem I can’t count them all on one hand. People don’t know what they have. I know how much I missed the choices (and my favorite, RG) of bookstores when I lived elsewhere. It was very frustrating to have to drive 30 miles to go to a non-big-box bookstore in N. Virginia.
I just assuaged my anger by spending 30 bucks at the book bin. Thanks, Kat.
Often when newspapers sponsor these local “best of” contests, it’s mainly an excuse to sell ad space to the potential nominees on the page containing the ballot. Did Borders purchase an ad touting its virtues, and the smaller independent bookstores didn’t? The large flashy ad strategy always works for the behemoth bike store in my town when the local paper runs its annual “contest”.
I know it’s easy to be skeptical when a place is so small that the advertisers are the people being covered. But I believe it was possible to “vote early and often” with this poll… and I blame a concerted effort on behalf of Borders or maybe its employees. Or, perhaps this is just Salem’s actual favorite? There is no accounting for taste (shaking head).
Totally agree. If I need something now, I’ll stop in there. Typically I don’t need books that fast so I go see Bruce at Booksmart in Keizer on River rd. The personal service is great- used seller/buyer that gives a 10% discount on new book orders, remembers my name since the first used novel I bought there ($4), and calls me on my blackberry when my orders come in. My kind of place.
On the topic of Salems “best of”…that fact that Busick court won best breakfast for like 5 years in a row completely invalidates the whole thing for me. The borders win only reinforces that.
These best of’s are really tough. On the one hand, everyone wants his/her favorites to win. On the other hand, somewhere deep down inside, we all think that democracy sucks — a little bit. We don’t want the lame-o’s to have a vote too. And don’t we all want to be the tastemakers? I sure do. Maybe the poll’s just a chance for people like Snooty McSnobbypants me to feel better about their own consumer choices. I am so out of the mainstream. I haven’t been to Booksmart but I will go, thank you. Somehow, I am drawn more to a Bin than a Mart…
Book *Smart*
Depends on how many you buy, you cheeky monkey
I for one never leave with fewer than three.
When we first moved here maybe 7 yrs ago, the “best” Salem Italian restaurant was Olive Garden. ‘Nuff said
I am a regular reader of your blog and would just like to say thank you! I am due to start my own blog an would like to know how to go about doing so. I hear a lot about WordPress is this a good site to use? Thank you. Restaurant Devon
Yes, wordpress is the best! I’ve also used blogger, but didn’t like it as much.