So yesterday and today have been lazy days. No house showings, barely any snow removal that needed to happen, so we've been reading and watching TV for most of the weekend. Krista and Nick came back from Alex with my mother's [supposedly broken] Macbook, and we met them at Don Pablo's. This was a fortunate coincidence, as tonight was taco night.
So after overeating, we wandered over the the Border's that is about to close, to see if there were any good deals. I particularly wanted to see if they had a good leather-bound NRSV to replace my el cheapo $10 NRSV purchased for college. The answer was no.
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| A typical shelf at the local Border's Bookstore |
But the store was depressing. The books that were still there in large supply were mainly the romances and mysteries. These are the books that bookstores always seem to have a very large supply of, but I never see anyone buying. Apparently, that holds true even if they are 30% off. The comic books and manga also seem untouched. These are sections that have grown in legitimate bookstores in the past 10 years, but once again, I never see anyone buy any.
The classics were gone, as was much of the fiction and the nonfiction that you would think people would buy (travel, history, religion, etc). And the children's section was already closed due to lack of books. Periodicals seemed untouched. As were the Border's eBook reader, the Kobo. Hadn't ever heard of it before today. Normally $139, on sale for $69. And nobody was buying. Guess that explains why Borders went bankrupt.
I feel bad seeing a bookstore cannibalize itself. Especially since I hadn't set foot in that store (our closest bookstore) since the last time I left Minneapolis, seven years ago this spring.
