I’ve been accused of complicity in the murder of Barnes & Noble at the Domain shopping center. (See R.I.P. Part I). It happened the other day when two literary P.I.s caught me loitering in another Barnes & Noble.
I denied the accusation, of course. Repeatedly. With righteous indignation. I love books. I shop in bookstores all the time. I even have a Barnes and Noble membership card. This time the detectives had the wrong girl.
But the literary P.I.s had done their homework. When pressed, I had to admit that, on occasion, just a few times mind you, I had ordered books through A . . z . .n.
In my own defense, I have to say that the purchases were justified. I only bought through A . . z . . n when the books were out of date. Or when I wanted to pre-order new releases. Or when A . . z . . n suggested new books that seemed as good or better than the ones I’d ordered.
But I had nothing to do with the death of Barnes & Noble at the Domain shopping center. I was innocent— but I knew whodunit.
It was all those darn kids using their Kindles, Nooks and iPads. Downloading electronic books and killing bookstores all over the country.
Of course, it isn’t really their fault. It’s the way they were raised. They don’t know how good a book feels in your hands. They can’t understand the joy of wandering the shelves looking for that brand new author. They’ve never experienced that Aha! moment when you discover a previously unknown work of a favorite author.
No. All these kids want is instant gratification and a few measly dollars off bookstore prices.
Except it’s not just kids anymore.
Somehow those literary P.I.s overheard a conversation my husband and I had while we were boarding a plane. I don’t know how they heard us. Maybe they were hiding in the overhead storage bin.
Paul and I were heading off for an 11-day vacation. In anticipation, I’d visited two different bookstores and found five books to read. Those five books made my suitcase heavier, and I had to pack a few less clothes, but it was worth it.
In case you’re secretly questioning the number of my purchases, keep in mind that I was going to spend one day flying to our destination, nine wonderful days relaxing at the beach, and another day flying home. If anything, I hadn’t brought enough books which forced me to visit additional stores during my trip.
But I digress.
On my way to my seat, I saw a passenger (a middle aged passenger mind you) reading from his iPad.
That was my Aha! moment. He didn’t have five heavy books weighing down his suitcase. With the additional space he had extra room to pack that fancy dinner outfit with matching jewelry. Okay, maybe not the jewelry.
But — this is the best part — if he didn’t like any of the books he’d brought on board, he had instant access to thousands more.
After we were seated, I asked my husband to buy me an electronic reader for Christmas.
And somehow those literary P.I.s found out. They accused me of aiding and abetting in the murder of Barnes & Noble.
What could I say? I had to admit my guilt.
Thankfully, the P.I.s declined to press charges because I’d already suffered enough.
The Barnes & Noble is dead.
And I killed it.
Oddly, the B&N in my area is doing quite well, with several locations within driving range of me, all busy-busy. The Borders went out of business, and you can hear crickets chirping at the local Books-a-Million, though. I’m happy to announce, too, that I’ve discovered six indie bookstores within 45 mins of my house as well :).
I do agree Amazon has put some serious pressure on the bookstores, but I also maintain it is partly their own faults–the big chains, that is. They only carry the big-big names and the many square feet of floor space taken up by games and desk accessories really impedes storage of actual books. I went looking the other day for a book series by Scholastic for my son, and ended up having to order it from Amazon because B&N and B-a-M didn’t have it. Yet they had like 47 different jigsaw puzzles…
Oh, yes, and I purposely bought a Nook instead of a Kindle in order to support B&N. That is one thing B&N did right–they recognized that the Kindle was something to truly reckon with and they really did create an ereader in the Nook that gives the Kindle a run for its money.
Actually there are two other B&N in the Austin metro area quite a distance from this particular store. These two others appear to be doing well.
Three other chain bookstores–not B&N–have closed, however.
The closing of this B&N was significant because it was the only one in a a very popular, growing, 1.3 million sq. ft. outlet mall. (see RIP Part 1). I find it astonishing there can be a gazillion clothing stores and no bookstore.
I can understand how you feel. I had a death in the book store family for me too this year but it wasn’t just one store… it was the entire company. I was a card carrying member of Borders and they went out of business this year. Sad day for me. I also killed it because I couldn’t afford the a) dive to the nearest store (but I always stopped in as much as possible when in the area) and b) can’t afford to by full price (but I would make a special trip and pay a little more when I had a good coupon). Anyways, when on Amazon you can get a book foud about $4.00 (including shipping) that is just too good a deal to pass up in this tough economy. I had every intention of frequenting them more when I had more of a stable job but that didn’t happen. Oh well. I will miss you Borders.
I miss Borders remainders tables where I used to pick up gorgeous books for a song. Of course, as an author I was sorry such beauties had been remaindered.
It is the travel thing that has sent me to e-books, but I haven’t bothered with an expensive reader. I use my smart phone or prop my laptop on my lap in bed, leaving two hands free to nurse my cup of tea.
That’s two mourners for Borders. (I would’ve probably been at the funeral also, if there had been one in my area.)
As it is, I can only imagine the pain you’re going through.
As the host of the Red Green show always said, “Hang in there, we’re all in this together.”