A Trip To The Bookstore

Kim and I went to the mall the other day and spent some time in the big bookstore. I usually don't buy anything at a bookstore unless it has used books but I still like to spend time in them. My routine is usually the same.

Walking in I ran smack dab into the tables with the big "Beach Reading" sign. We do have a beach in Indiana named "Indiana Beach" but it ain't that hot so I'm not sure how well this marketing effort will work.

Next I ran into the "Recent Releases" table. A lot of political books out this year. I'm not sure I've ever read a contemporary political book and not sure I ever want to. I'll reserve my political reading to history, as in "This is what happened 35 years ago during the Watergate scandal. Does time increase or reduce spin? Is that question philosophical, political, or physical? Mmmmmmm

You can find almost anything in the "Bargain Books" and I was even motivated enough to nab one off the shelf for myself.

The "Clearance" table is pretty sad. It usually is filled with books that probably aren't worth reading and it is probably why I will never write a book, especially if I was a politician. It must be hard to look at your book, with your picture on it, with your title ("My American Dream" or something like that), and see the store doing everything they can to get rid of it.

I cruise the music section and notice that a majority of the space seems to be taken over by DVDs. I suppose most people would rather buy their music online and I would bet the DVDs are going to have the same fate.

I wish I was a kid again with the huge area devoted to them now days. I read a lot when I was a kid but most of the books were probably not really suited for my age.

I finally run into a small table that's worse than the clearance table. It's the "Red Dot" table. Any book with a red dot is only $1. I picked up a horrible looking book but I put it back figuring the Tim Hallman that wrote it is probably not the one I know.

I then made my way to the Ws in the fiction section to see what they had from PG Wodehouse. I had a friend that had an omnibus that was fantastic but I've never seen it since. They only have the repackaged fair that I already own so I move on.

I just happened to be near the registers and I had caught up with Kim so I checked out. My book? A novel by outdoor humorist Patrick McManus. I think I've read everything he has written and I think he does better with short stories but this one I didn't recognize so I thought I would take the chance on wasting $6.

And that ended my trip to the bookstore.