On one hand, I anticipate the awesome going-out-of-business sales over the next couple months. However, I have next to zero self-control when it comes to buying books. Dangerous? Perhaps. But if I'm going to buy the damn things why not get them on sale, right?
Also, where will I read for free now? Sometimes, like when I intentionally don't bring cash or plastic with me, I enjoy lingering for a few hours with a cup of coffee and reading a book FOR FREE. It's pretty awesome. Hawaii's hot, so you're in the air conditioning for one. If the book sucks, you can put it back and pick a new one. There's no residual guilt for spending $15 on something that will inevitably just gather dust on your bookshelf. Now what am I supposed to do? Go to the library? I've done it before, but the idea takes some getting used to. I am a book snob.
I'm not a fan of Barnes and Noble. Okay, that's a slight over-dramatization because I've got myself all fired up over this. I prefer Borders over Barnes and Noble. Borders membership is easier to maintain and provides you with more and much better deals than B&N's cheap ass "discounts." B&N throws around the Starbucks label in their coffee shop when they merely just brew Starbucks coffee. I have no clue why this aggravates me so, but it does. Their seating options are minimal and all but a few suck. Plus, for the majority of their seats you have to have a coffee in hand to sit there. Not that I usually don't have a coffee in hand and not that I'm exactly clear on Borders' cafe guidelines, but this just strikes me as unfriendly and money-grubbing. I have no reception in B&N, but I'm only speaking in reference to the one location. My most convincing and rational argument is that there have been at least half a dozen instances of entering B&N looking for something specific, because it is actually more convenient for me to get to than Borders, but they never have it. Crap, I say!
Plus, as a Michigander, I have a little pride that Borders started in A2. Maybe this affects my perception of both chains, but because I know it's origins, I view Borders more as the friendly liberal college town bookstore while I view B&N as the elitist east coast capitalistic bookstore. Michigan doesn't have much to boast about, so this is an unfortunate loss. Why couldn't Kid Rock have gone out of business instead?
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