My Love For B & N

Below is the paper I mentioned earlier which tells the story of the lovely day when Lubbock, Texas got a brand new, huge Barnes & Noble. I'll remember that day forever. I occasionally miss the old, smaller Barnes & Noble, but both the old and new stores smell like coffee and books. I'll stop talking. I mean, I'm about to post a lengthy Barnes & Noble review anyway.

Enjoy!

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I have been to Barnes and Nobles three times since the doors opened on Wednesday. I went twice on Wednesday alone. The first time, I was in the store for about an hour, and I forced myself to leave when I realized I had class in fifteen minutes. I am simply speechless. Actually, I take that back; I am very rarely speechless. When I opened the beautiful wooden doors and walked in, what I really wanted to do was squeal and jump up and down like a little girl in a candy store. Alas, I did not bring anyone with me, so I managed not to squeal, but I came dangerously close to turning to the stranger who walked in behind me and exclaiming, “There’s even an escalator!” Instead, I stood there, frozen, not even knowing in which direction I should start walking. I finally walked to the right, and lost myself for several minutes as I discovered countless new board games and jigsaw puzzles. I saw the café with all the collectible coffee mugs (I don’t know if they qualify as collectibles, but I will probably have a collection someday). I was distracted by a songbook section and cringed as I walked past the shelves of books on computer programming (but I was still amazed that there were so many books on such a horrible subject). I saw some bestsellers that looked amazing; I looked at the insane number of 2010 wall and desk calendars. I think there was probably a skip in my step as I walked toward the section clearly labeled, “gift wrap,” and when I turned, I saw gift cards galore. I found portfolios and folders that exactly match my current daily planner, and yes, I know it’s a little strange that I find that to be so extremely exciting. At this point, I looked toward the second floor and I saw my favorite section.


Here begins the second part of my journey. I stepped onto the escalator, and as I reached the second floor, I could only see one section, my favorite section. I know that as a responsible, English-loving college student, I should have gone straight to the poetry section or the literature section or the writing section, but I did not. Instead, I walked toward the amazing three-dimensional tree that was branching out from the wall in the children’s book section. That is correct; Ashley Ray’s favorite section of the bookstore is the children’s section. The children’s section just always seems so magical. That wonderful section is probably where I first embraced my love of reading. I could never read enough about princes and princesses and secret passageways into other worlds. I remember going to the old Barnes and Nobles with my mother and looking at every book within reach. My mom would usually give me a price limit and a time limit. I would grab as many books as I could, and then Mom would help me add up the prices and figure out how many books I could actually take home. Anyway (before I go any farther down memory lane), I had high expectations for the new children’s book section, and I was not disappointed. There was an entire section labeled, “fairy tales,” and there were a dozen delighted children saying, “Mom, can we get this one?” or “Wow! Look at that!” So, needless to say, I considered the new Barnes and Nobles to be a complete success.


I eventually moved on to the literature section, and there were so many books; I don’t have time to read all of them, which is rather disappointing. In the poetry section, the first book to catch my eye was, not surprisingly, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne. Of course, that book is now on my Christmas list. Also, I was glad to see that Jeannette Walls (author of The Glass Castle) wrote a new book titled, Half Broke Horses. The Glass Castle is non-fiction but reads as if it is fiction. If I recall, I read the book in one day and reread it within the same year. So now I have added Half Broke Horses to my Christmas list as well. In the writing section, I saw a book titled, How to Write a Book in a Month, and I thought that was completely ridiculous. I found the book titled, How to Read Literature Like a Professor which I have always wanted to read. Last but certainly not least, I found the classics section, which is also full of books I want to read. Correction: the entire store is filled with books I want to read. I wish I could remember more book titles, but the bookstore was completely overwhelming. I haven’t even written about the movies and music section, but I was fascinated by it as well. In short, I believe I will always remember the opening day at Barnes and Nobles, and I will certainly be a frequent customer in the future.


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So now maybe you understand my love for Barnes & Nobles.

By the way, I did get Half Broke Horses for Christmas, I now have a collection of coffee mugs, and I am a frequent customer to this day.