I live in a fairly sizable city here in the valley, with a population north of 100K, and it's always kinda bothered me that we've never had a nice, large bookstore like a Barnes&Noble or Borders in town, when I see them just about everywhere else around. Nope, we've just had to settle for a little Waldenbooks and B. Dalton in the local mall.
Well, Waldenbooks closed quite a while ago, and now B. Dalton is closing too - everything 40% off at the moment, which is a nice deal BUT...
How pathetic is it that a city this size now has no frigging bookstore? When I first heard of the closing of B Dalton, I was incensed at my fellow inhabitants - how, in a city this size, can we not garner enough interest in reading to keep at least ONE small bookstore in business? I know I did my part, dammit!
However, when I went into B. Dalton to take advantage of their close-out prices, I asked the clerk if business was so bad at this particular store. "Oh no", said she, "business was just fine. It was a corporate decision. They want to consolidate their stores".
Some small comfort... at least I'm not surrounded by a city of illiterates as I first assumed... though the trek to the nearest B&N is a bit of a drive for this homebody, so when I go, I tend to spend more time and money than I should...
Since our local store was going out of business and getting rid of their stock at ridiculously low prices, it was pretty well picked over the last time I went, to the extent that I could not fulfil a promise I had made to my children there - namely, to pick up a copy of The Hobbit and read it to them - something I have wanted to do for a while. I had a copy, I've read it several times, but it's long gone, somewhere in the past history of one of my many moves before I got married, I suspect...
So, last night, I bit the bullet and drove out to the B&N in the next town over to grab a copy (I had first asked around, and not one of my friends, to my disappointment, had a copy of their own that I could borrow! Fair enough, my library would be incomplete without this book anyway) - also picked up a copy of Common Sense by Thomas Paine, which was in the bargain book aisle.
I'm happy to say that reading of The Hobbit finally commenced last night. The kids seemed to enjoy it - I know I did.
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That stinks! You need to come over here - we have a few bookstores in Chattanooga and an awesome used book, movie, and game store. On being a homebody and well-read, we have liked half.com, amazon.com, and you should find a few reader options for your iPhone.
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