Face On The Milk Carton

Being Bookish at Barnes & Noble

Now that its closing is complete, Borders is nothing but an empty echoing space with a perpetual cage down over its doors. As I lounged on the chairs in that wing the other day eating a Mrs. Fields cookie , I watched a little boy pull on the clattering chains, and it made me a little sad. Something new will fill that space, but probably not another book store; and as much as I love clothes and accessories, I feel it’s a sad state that books couldn’t cut it. To look on the bright side, I took a revitalizing trip through Barnes & Noble just across the street.

I must admit I always somewhat preferred Barnes & Noble to Borders anyway. The latter’s fiction section always seemed pitifully and strangely small compared to B&N’s more extensive coverage. That store also lacked the strength and brand recognition of their own imprints, like the paperback Barnes & Noble Classics or the illustrated Leatherbound Classics (an obsession of mine.) Barnes & Noble’s brand, even down to their simpler, darker décor, just always rang a bit more intellectual or highbrow to me than the KMart-owned Borders.

Of course, this market is changing, and the Freehold B&N reflects that. Where the bestsellers, new arrivals, and recommendations used to be is now a large area devoted to the store’s e-reader, the Nook. To stubborn me, the amount of space used on this seems excessive – having relegated those other sections to a single aisle in front of the registers – but the product has been a big success for the company, so it must be working.

I also found it interesting on recent inspection that the teen section now occupies the front area to the right of the magazines. When I was that age searching for the next Face on the Milk Carton book, teen was a pair of shelves directly abutting the bathrooms. Some might see it as depressing that Twilight takes top billing over the pantheon of English literature, but I find it encouraging that young readers are so important to garner such attention. It also bears noting that the children’s section remains unchanged with its adorable story-time stage.

What I find most troubling about Barnes & Noble these days is the amount of space dedicated to not-books. That teen section also contains shelves full of “digital accessories” like iPod speakers. The back right area has been turned over to educational toys and games, with another puzzle display to the left of the information booth. In the rear, there is even still a DVD and CD (!) section, which I suspect most shoppers pass over in favor of chains like Best Buy. Then there are of course the cards, journals, and gifts up front – which I must admit I love, and often turn to for special occasions.

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Being Bookish at Barnes & Noble

When I was that age searching for the next Face on the Milk Carton book, teen was a pair of shelves directly abutting the bathrooms. Some might see it as depressing that Twilight takes top billing over the pantheon of English literature,

Patty. Published.: Face on a Milk Carton

Trendy pair. They were big and round and plastic. They had a light blue and lavender water-colory mosaic thing going on. Really brought out.... the fact that I had bad eyes. Me and my dad went to LensCrafters and they gave me my eye exam and I was so excited to see! So in the exam room the doctor gave me a pair not for looks just to make sure it was the right prescription. Then I went to pick out my frames. I kept trying them on and thought something was wrong. I kept asking for them to bring me different glasses. More and more and more. We were there for a long time and dad finally asked what was wrong with all these glasses. "I can't see out of any of them!" I had NO idea that the frames were just frames with fake glass. Yeah. Then I felt sheepish and maybe that's why I picked the granny frames I picked. I also was really excited to wear them to school and show my teacher Ms. Sable. And you know what? She wasn't there that day! A substitute was there. I was completely deflated. And when Ms. Sable did finally get back to school she didn't even notice the first day. I was so upset. I wrote in my journal about it. I should try to find that. Last spring I got new glasses. (Not the first time since third grade by the way.) They were called "Red Coin." I loved that name. They were square and small and red with a silver stripe on the sides. Not punk red. Not too attention grabbing but very mature metallic red. (Normally I don't think mature and metallic can go in the same sentence... but here it works.) They were up-town. Like those stilettos that are black with a red sole you can only see when she is walking. Yeah. Like that. You think she's business- but...wait... yeah, she's hot. They were dignified with a little danger. You know I was trying to send the statement that I quietly live on the edge. I forgot my glasses in Salt Lake. I guess I was so busy pretending to be a world traveler I forgot to give the hotel room the once over. I left my whole makeup bag. It had my glasses, contact case, and all my makeup and my Extra Strength Excedrin. I love that Excedrin. It's not an addiction- it's the only thing that can stave off the Koley pains I get. That's replaceable. Makeup is replaceable too- but it's gonna cost like $50.