Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Response to Tim inline (below):

On Tue, 2003-11-04 at 00:16, Tim Lavoie wrote:

...

...

...

...

...

"John" == John Lange john.lange@bighostbox.com writes:

John> Is anyone aware of a used bookstore in Winnipeg that has a
John> good selection of computer books?

Hm. What sort of computer books? Borealis on Main has had the odd one that I've liked, though that's not a big part of what they've got. More general math & science in that section, less in the way of the app du jour. On the other hand, I prefer that myself.

I was hoping for a store that has a large selection. It seems most of them have one or two but nothing beyond that. This seems like a niece market that someone could fill.

John> Or another suggestion on how to get books for reasonable
John> prices? I had a look in Chapters today at some computer
John> books and every one I picked up was more than $70 !

Good books often aren't cheap, though some eventually make it into paperback if you're patient. Copperfields is likely the best around

Does Copperfields exist anymore? I drove by their Pembina location and I was certain I saw a "For Lease" sign in the window. I was driving at the time and only glanced so I could be mistaken.

for computer books, and I doubt any others are close. McNally's is OK for a general book store, and they've been good about finding and ordering books for me, but selection in this field is much less than it used to be.

I searched their web site and it turned up next to nothing.

Chapters used to be decent, but has degraded into the K-Mart of book stores. What once was a sea of nifty, often theoretical books has become a dried, muddy pond of mass-market dreck, with MCSE certification guides flopping fitfully in the shallows. After all, the public gets what it wants... and deserves. In any case, trying to order non-stocked items from Chapters (albeit pre-Indigo) hasn't worked for me, so of the locals, I'd check Copperfields and McNally. But hey, Chapters has a much better selection of scented candles and get-well cards. *ahem*

I looked in Chapters and I have to agree with you. They really have largely drek.

For non-local, amazon.ca has been quick and excellent at keeping me informed of purchase status, and their site is tops for actually finding books on a topic. So that, too is a possibility, and more to the point, may also have hooks to finding used copies of the books you want.

Can anyone offer suggestions on how to get your books shipped without having to pay the enormous duties and brokerage charges?

I've only ordered from Amazon once. I ordered 3 books. They all shipped separately and one of them got tagged for duty. That wouldn't have been so bad but the brokerage charge to clear customs was about 40% of the price of the book. I've never ordered books (or anything else) from the US since.

Oh yeah, what are you looking for anyway? <grin>

In this specific example I was looking for a book on Cascading Style Sheets. Up until now I've been using them for colours, fonts etc. but I'm still using tables to control my layouts. I thought I make the leap and go full CSS as much as possible.

Specifically I thought I try and pick up Cascading Style Sheets by Hakon Wium Lie and Bert Bos.