Bookworm?
- Joined: Feb 3rd, 2007
- Posts: 3,695
I need to get out the house to inspire my writing. It really makes a difference in content. I’d also like to chat with other amateurs. So what’s the deal like at Bookworm? Is it a good place to meet people, or do they just sit around watching each other read? Also, how much is a cup of coffee there?
Galaxies don't move Sciency. They're in a fixed position.
Shoplifter
Re: Bookworm?
We walked in there, took a look around and realized it was full of books people had purchased at the airport somewhere before their flight to BJ.
If you want a copy of " The Davinci Code" this is the place.
freakyqi
Re: Bookworm?
I've been there 2-3 times. Don't know about coffee/tea, but their water, beer, juice is 10-30kuai. Food is 25-65 for some appetizers & bigger foods.
They also have a bunch of wine but I don't know anything about that.
There are 3 rooms, each lined with books. One room is all fiction, used novels, tables for 2-4. Another room has a bar area and tables, and has other categories of books... a lot of travel books & misc. People with laptops often sit in this room and work very seriously. The third room has magazines (english, and just a few books, but couches & it's cozier. The bathroom's through there too.
I went twice alone and people seemed to be paying attention only to themselves or friends quietly. I didn't feel anyone wanted to be approached.
I went with a friend on a poetry open mic night (every wednesday) but I barely knew the event was going on. I expected there to be a mic up front and people get up and recite to an audience. But it was more like... a group who seemed to already know each other pulled tables together, sat around it (making it awkward for anyone new to join) and recited while sitting from their seat, only loud enough for the other people at the table to hear.
I guess that's one way to do it... but if they want new people to feel welcome it wasn't the best way. Maybe they don't want new people. I listened from my own seat for a while, but then went into another room with my friend to talk. Sitting with them would have involved asking some ladies to get another table and move their table to the others and sit there. Too much trouble to bother. The little I heard had a beatnik intellectual feel to it. (nothing wrong with that but it felt limited & clique-ish)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Sciency
Re: Bookworm?
Thanks!
Hehe, maybe I'm not sophisticated enough for a place like that. I might try it out if I can find someone to go with me. Otherwise, I'd rather spend my money on pizza.
Galaxies don't move Sciency. They're in a fixed position.
misterzeero
Re: Bookworm?
Pizza > Books
Quote:
Groucho Marx
freakyqi
Re: Bookworm?
Mmm... pizza. Wanna go get pizza then check out the Bookworm for coffee afterwards?
Maybe we'll find each other ugly or annoying, but at least we had pizza.
Main Chinese site for donating blood in Beijing:
http://www.bjblood.com/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hope you had moments of giggle."{~Timcat}
manlin
Re: Bookworm?
Try going to Bookmark instead of Bookworm. More of a library atmosphere and less people using it as a free office. Less books thought than Bookworm and again most of them are donated "plane books".
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zelmasri
Re: Bookworm?
very good post by freakyqi
I popped in there once (only 2 weeks ago as Id heard a lot about it) to take a look and actually felt quite akward when I walked in, everyone in the first room gave me an inquistive once over before returning to whatever they werer doing. It felt like a library more than anything else, okay if you want a quiet read but not very good for a social atmosphere. It is the kind of place where if you where to sit down at a table and wanted to ask someone nearby a question, on doing so everyone in the room would look up from what they were doing to nosy in on this rogue conversation. I suggest that there should be only 1 quieter room, maybe the one to the left and that the entrance room should be more loungy and relaxed with the bar in the back room. At the very least the front room should be more welcoming and loungy.
I gave it a try a second time and though I did end up reading an interesting book it was pretty much more of the same.
I thought maybe its just the time of day and maybe it is more lively in the evenings or on the infamous poetry night id heard about, but after reading freakyqi's comments i guess not.
My reccomendation to them, lower the food and drinks (especially) prices, people will use it less like a free office and more as a leisure venue. They'll sell more food and drink (which will hopefully lose the pretentious people, or at least make them seem less pretentious under the influence of alcohol), the place will be more welcoming and more money will be made.
littlewing
Re: Bookworm?
i've been to one of the lectures at bookworm which was interesting, but the room where they hold lectures is not sufficiently closed off from the main cafe area ..so it was frustrating as it was really hard to hear what the guy was saying. i also thought that everything on the menu was overly expensive.