Friday, February 18, 2011

Book Report

There was a time in the last year when I was dumped and feeling very sorry for myself. A friend, in a well-intentioned effort to make me feel better, said, "It's OK, Bridget. He reads books! Do you honestly want to date somebody who reads books?"

Um. Yes.

I mean, seriously, do you know me? I am a writer. That inherently makes me a reader. I grew up in a family that was read aloud to at the dinner table. I fall in a crowd of friends that spends one day of four-day ski weekends skiing, and three days curled up in front of the fire with a book. I am the new girl, at the new job, who doesn't make friends during lunch because I relish my full hour to curl up in the corner of the cafeteria and, you guessed it, read.

I am a (proud) book nerd.

Which is why it was so distressing to me to learn that bookstore chain Borders recently filed for Chapter 11.

I know, I know, I shouldn't be crying over the potential demise of a big box store. I mean, I've seen You've Got Mail and all. But there was a point in my life when I was working as a nanny in Burlington, Vermont and Borders was an almost daily stop for me.

They were within walking distance! Their bathrooms easily fit strollers! They had a children's section! And a wide variety of cheesy chick lit that I could read aloud to Baby in a sing song voice, him none the wiser!

Plus, the fall of such a giant makes me worried for our smaller independent stores. Which is why I am so grateful that my community's novice bookstore is hanging on, with the expertise of seasoned booksellers and the resources of its determined owner.

Community bookends: Bookstore keeps people connected - 2/17/11

Read all about it!

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