Let's Go to the Bookstore for a Croissant and an Espresso…

We are lucky to live in a city that has a lot of books stores. I have to admit that I usually do all of my book-purchasing through Amazon’s site, but occasionally I break down and buy a book at an actual store. We have five Barnes and Nobles and seven Borders books stores within a 25 mile radius! That’s a lot of books stores!

Recently, though, I have not really enjoyed my visits to these bookstores. On one occasion, two teenagers were seated (plopped) right in front of the area (mysteries, of course!) that I wanted to look at… They didn’t budge, even with me towering over them trying to find my author of choice. On another occasion, people on the couches near my area were talking loudly on their cell phones while I was trying to peruse the books (mysteries… again!)

I have noticed a trend in the bookstores near our home… they seem to want to make the store have the feeling of a lounge… where people can sit and talk, eat, drink, and even LAY on the floor !!!!! It appears that some people go early so that they can stake out a favorite couch to call their own while they read magazines and drink their morning coffee… before reading more magazines while sipping their fruit shakes in the afternoon.

When I go to a bookstore, I am there with a purpose…. I always take my list of books… I go in, find my book, do a little browsing, and then leave. Well, that’s what I used to do. Now I go in, carefully walk around, step over, peer over, or try to phase out people’s chatter.

Years ago, when our children were young, we had access to a wonderful branch of bookstores called Book Stop. Each trip to Book Stop would last at least an hour…. but it was an hour that was spent on our feet, combing through the children’s’ aisles, discovering the latest Bruce Coville, Daniel Pinkwater, Roald Dahl, or  Klutz books. Certainly, we were not having lunch on one of the store’s couches… while talking on our cell phones… while paging through the latest magazines!  Come to think of it, they didn’t have couches, nor did they sell café latté/caffè latte!