I have a love/hate relationship with Barnes & Noble... mostly love, though.
I absolutely ADORE reading. I always have. During kiddie summer reading programs at the local library, I was always the top reader. I earned those silver stars ever so rapidly. Not that I cared about the contest prize... I don't even remember what any of them were. I just wanted to read and read and READ. Okay, so I'm also a tiny bit competitive, and I just wanted more stars than anyone else.
Today, the girls and I moseyed over to the local B&N. My queue at home is getting short, and I want enough choices when I finish the current novel.
So, what's the "hate" part then?
I always imagined that, one day, when I retired, I would own my own little Book Store Around The Corner, complete with oversized, overstuffed, cushy chairs and sofas strategically placed around the store. Not only would I sell books there, but I would have story time with the little kiddies in the mornings. I might even dress in character for a few of them. Coffee and tea would always be in ample supply. Starting to sound like something from a movie? A not-so-well-written movie that was churned out to get its stars one more romantic plot together? Yeah. Well, that was my dream. But I'm afraid the B&N's, Amazons, and Borders of the world have quashed my dream.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a B&N card-carrying member. Walking in their doors brings to me the type of euphoria that most people seek through chemical stimulation.
But as I wander up and down the aisles, perusing the titles and authors, looking for the items on my book wish list, I sigh a little. Unless I move to some podunk town where a) a store that size would never dream of opening, b) the locals don't know how to use the internet to buy anything, and c) everyone loves to read... I don't see that dream ever coming true.
But why would I want to move to a podunk town where no one knows how to use the internet? No, thank you. Dream crushed. End of story. (unless maybe I get a new dream?)
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Now this is getting weird. The first two blogs I visit today and both have posts about things I have been thinking about constantly. I was just thinking today that I would like to own a Book Bar. Like, with wine and martinis and stuff. Because, seriously, a book with big fluffy chairs and a glass of wine? BEST. THING. EVER.
I love B & N. I'm only allowed to go every once in awhile because I forget the time and I spend too much money.
That'd kinda sad. I love boarders, we don't have B&N here, but the thing is that I think they're overpriced and ridiculous, so I opt for our local libray to get my books (it's free that way!), and borrowing off friends. my friend Anna is a bookstore in herself! No jokes... I have problems with multi national corperations that push the little guys out and leave no room for non multinational competition. But at the same time I think it's great, coz as a comsumer I have more choice and lower prices (sometimes). It sure is a love/hate relationship...
I love B&N as well, but I suspect they pump something through the vent. There's no rational reason why I keep buying books when I have 500 at home already to read.
Ok. So after I begrudingly watched that movie with my mom, I got to thinking that owning a small bookstore around the corner in New York in autumn would be ideal. There would be well-placed and respectable kiddie street fairs and people would be polite and I would love my little entreprenurial-ness.
After moving here, I found that the closest I could get to this was watching people read the homeless' signs begging for change while they sat in th emiddle of a crowded street fair on 6th Ave, where all the booths and vendors looked the same...tye-dyed smocks, cheap plastic sunglasses, and "fresh squeezed" lemonade line the roads.
Damn you Meg Ryan and your cheeky tales!
Jurgen and DCMM, I, too, have that dream. Well, similar: bookstore, wine bar, wine shop, knitting store combo. Well, okay, the knitting part might be overkill since I only know how to make beer coozies and scarves, but you get the point.
I even know WHERE I would put it and what I would call it. Anyone interested in financing my little venture?
Jurgen and DCMM, I, too, have that dream. Well, similar: bookstore, wine bar, wine shop, knitting store combo. Well, okay, the knitting part might be overkill since I only know how to make beer coozies and scarves, but you get the point.
I even know WHERE I would put it and what I would call it. Anyone interested in financing my little venture?
We don't have B & N here, BUT we have Chapters (for the English people) and Renaud-Bray (for the French ones). At Chapters they even have a Starbucks in it and some cozy chairs (that are mostly NEVER available). What I do is bad, I know, I'll go to Chapters, price the book I want then come home, go online and order it from Amazon... Yeah I'm cheap, but I assume it! But there no other feeling then walking and feeling all those books - I love books, it's like a sickness. I'm "sloooowwwwlllyyy" learning to let some go, it's hard because I want them to find a good home... Is that weird? =^..^=
Our consumerism is definitely depressing. I buy books from Amazon (no tax, no delivery chg) when I know I want them, but I can't help going to B&N and adding to my stack (or queue, as you call it). I always choose books better when they are in my hands. When I can turn to a page or two right in the center, and see if my interest is caught. Plus the reviews on the internet don't always mesh with what I think of a book.
btw - That's one of my guilty pleasure movies. I don't know why - all I know is that I own it, and every time I see it I love it more.
jurgen: mmm... wine and books. Lovely!
goldennib: I allow myself a "spending cap" while I'm there. But if I have a gift card, I can nudge the cap up a bit, too. :-)
ludi: EXACTLY! I have a choice, so if I choose to spend more so that I can drink in the books, literally, then that's my choice. :-)
red: maybe that's it... pumping some kind of purchase-inducing drug through the vents. Plus, they do also have a Starbucks, so the luscious smells of coffee are rolling through the place. Oh, and the Cheesecake Factory snacks, too. It's uber-temptation for me.
MPB: Actually, I only bought a few things-- an autographed copy of A Necessary Evil by Alex Kava, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, a musician's journal (with staff paper, area for lyrics, and guitar tablature), and a book light. I don't really get into the romance novels. Never really have.
hannah: eeek. The cheap plastic sunglasses would do me in. Permanently! haha And maybe the lemonade, too (see sidebar quote).
gg: If I had the money, I'd finance you! The knitting piece brings it all together! ;-)
stinkypaw: yep, we have the Starbucks in B&N as well. I'm not a fan of them either (all corporate giantness, etc), but the coffee vapors while shopping definitely do something to me!
tammara: I do the same thing, but it is nice when B&N sends me personalized emails inviting me to book signings, sending me coupons for free coffee, Godiva chocolate, etc. Hey, maybe they ARE the devil! haha
And, even though I don't think the movie was all that great, there are SOME scenes in it that are very good. When he and the dog come over that bridge at the end, I have to make up an excuse as to why I'm all teary-eyed.
I, too, suffer from B&N guilt. I know I should be frequenting the local bookstore, but they don't have half the selection. Ugh.
I think you've got to look at it the other way - as a kid growing up in Indiana, we didn't really have a lot of bookstores (or any). And when Borders first rolled into town it was fantastic because I had this whole world opened up to me.
I still shop at local book places, in fact I'm very tight with Steve at the used bookstore a few blocks away. And we go to specialty stores like Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge. I don't have guilt - I have lots of books to read.
nabbalicious and alyssa: we don't even have any local bookstores anymore that I can find. :-( There are a few used bookstores, and I'll go do some trades when I have some books I don't want to keep. Usually when I buy mine, though, I want to keep them. Selfish, huh.
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