Friday, February 1, 2013

Enchanting Ella: What's Life Without Barnes & Noble?

Say it isn't so.  No really, please someone say it isn't true that Barnes & Noble will be closing down most of it's retail stores (at least 20 per year) for the next decade.  Where will we go for free wi-fi?  McDonalds?  Starbucks?  

How will we get to sample the books before we buy them?  How will we get to experience the smell of paperbacks fresh out of the shipping box and onto the shelves?  

What is this world coming to?  Oh that's right.... we're in a "digital age" and everything is going electronic.  Companies have become paperless so the literary world should follow suit.  I'm not really sure how to deal with this.  I love a good paperback.  However, I might be a significant "root" of the issue considering most of my library consists of ebooks.  

So it is with humble apologies Barnes & Noble that I clearly state - I am truly sorry to see you go.  Well at least 20 stores per year for the next decade.  I'll see you online though.  Right here:


Are you sad to see the retail stores go? 

Do you read more on an eReader?   




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9 comments:

  1. Hi Enchanting Ella! Yes I'm sad to see the bookstores go! But, hardbacks are just so expensive now, and I have So MANY BOOKS!!! I would preorder my favorites to keep for my collections...I have to stop the madness. I volunteer in our local library, so I get to touch and smell the new books before they get put on the shelves, and I can get on the early list to reserve them. It's not the same....but I'm living with it. There is nothing like wandering around a bookstore.
    I read almost everything on my Kindle app for my iPad now. It's very sad, but I'm saving more money for e-books! :)

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    1. I went in today just to see what I could find in paperback at my local B&N - I have to say I was highly disappointed in their selection. Kind of made me realize how easy we have it with the ebooks and the HUGE selection we are seeing with those. Now I understand how Amazon has put them out of business. :/

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    2. and thanks for always stopping by lovely Pat! I love to hear from you as always :)

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  2. I feel bad for Barnes and Noble, but happy for trees and my bedroom book shelves that are already overflowing. Since I bought my first Kindle, I have read very few paper books. I love being able to enlarge the print if my eyes get tired and I would never have purchased as many paper books as I have eBooks. I even download eBooks from the library...

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    1. Good point Karen! Thanks for the reminder of how much space they do take up. I guess it's a digital world and I just need to get used to it. I do want to purchase my favorites in paperback. But it seems I'll have to order them from Amazon. lol!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. It is a mixed feeling when I read about a store like B&N closing down their stores little by little. There is sadness in my heart that prominent stores of the past century are slowly closing down because technology caught up with them. I am one of the readers who now prefers buying ebooks instead of actual books. Book publishers have to come up with new interesting ways to market the traditional books in print.

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    1. I too am sad, but I think that B&N was too slow in their efforts to keep up with Amazon. The selection on the Nook is not nearly as vast as Amazon. I've seen a lot of slow upload issues with self publishing authors as well. I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later right! But the old fashioned reader in me will miss the smell of a new book and the feel of the pages. I do love my eReader though.

      thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Hi Enchanting Ella! The decline of the bookstore has been making me sad for years. There used to be a Borders right behind the building my office was in at school and a good portion of my paycheck went there. :) It is also up there with how libraries have fewer books. Even the library on campus where I work has very few books and journals. Everything is directed to online or inter-library loan, which is fine, but what happens when other libraries start downsizing their book collections? I shiver at the thought.

    I do read more on my e-reader mainly because of convenience and cost and of course, with fewer bookstores around, I can avoid shipping charges if a book is available electronically. That being said, I cannot walk past a used bookstore without going in and spending a good hour or two and thus making me late for the rest of the day. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Yes, I too will just have to savor the time I have with my local Barnes and Noble ;)

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