Shelf Awareness

"I was a big indie bookstore customer even when I worked at Amazon. There is something irreplaceable about walking into a bookstore and browsing through well-chosen shelves and talking to a bookseller.... 

Amazon's algorithms are pretty impressive and useful, but they still can't do everything a smart and imaginative bookseller can do, especially one that knows you and the books you like to read."

--Tom Nissley, owner of Phinney Books, quoted in a Seattle Times article. Nissley spent a decade working for Amazon, took some time off to be a Jeopardy! champ and recently purchased the former Santoro's Books in the Phinney Ridge/Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle.