Barnes and Noble can suck it.

Borders on the brink: Michigan-based bookseller restructures for the times

This summer I started looking for a part-time job that would work around my internship hours. That pretty much meant I would have to work retail  because I could work a schedule that didn't require traditional Mon-Fri hours. 

The first type of store that popped into my head were book-stores, of course. Every English major's dream job, own a book store one day. I applied at two Borders and two Barnes and Noble stores nearby. 

I never heard back from either of the Borders, but I heard back from Bookstar, a Barnes and Noble in Point Loma that only sells books. 

The interview seemed to be going quite well, until the interviewer, Jimmy, asked me what the company was really focusing on. The only thing that seemed like a logical answer was literacy, but no, it was the Nook. 

When she asked me how I felt about their ereader, I didn't say anything right away, but I know that she saw the look of disgust suffuse over my face. 

   "I'm not sure I should have an ereader; I always have my books around water," I said.  

   " You can get a case for it," she replied.

Jimmy proceeded to explain to me all the stuff the Nook can do. I could play games on it, or go online. It's a book; why do I need to go online with it? The point of a book is to keep away from the mind numbing affect of information overload. How am I supposed to relax, day dream, and think, when I can stop reading every five seconds to check my Facebook. I could play checkers against it, but I'd rather play with a person, and as an only child, I'm actually quite skilled in playing games by myself; I don't need some stupid ereader to play with me. 

Some of it's other advertised features are that it can last for 10 days, it has a color coded navigation system, and it can be set up with a password to protect it. I can read my paper book as long as I want without charging it, everyone can read a book without using an instruction manual, and yeah, paper books don't have to be safeguarded.

Am I upset that I didn't get the job at Barnes and Noble, a little bit because I really wanted to work in a bookstore, with beautiful books, made of paper available for me to see and touch and smell at my disposal. However, if I had to sell the Nook, I would probably go crazy or be fired for telling people they should get a real book.  

I've always been more a Borders fan to begin with, clearly, independent bookstores and used bookstores are where my heart feels as if it can soar, but Borders comes in at a close 2nd. So, when I see articles that Borders stores are closing because people are buying books online or reading Nooks and Kindles, I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. However, at least I know print will be around for a while or else all book stores would be closing, and everything would go online. 

Half the experience of going to a bookstore is talking to the employees about good books; to be honest however, I feel like I have to help other customers out sometimes because I know more than the people who actually work there. Not to be a snob,  just sayin'.

Today I listened to the NPR books podcast fon my drive to and from Fallbrook, a two hour journey. I love listening to authors talk about their craft, and admire them so much for spending all the time and energy they do to create such amazing work, and then recieve such little pay and recognition for it. I started getting sad, however, when I thought about what is happening to books. 

Sure, people are reading more they say, but I know when I read electronic stuff, I don't read quite as closely. Sure I may be contradicting myself as I write my blog, but it's not like I could get this published in print anywhere, or else I would. 

I feel that ebooks are nothing short of a trendy gadget, people don't get them for the love of a book, but for the love having the coolest, latest toy. "It's more environmentally friendly," they say. Not really, paper is at least biodegradable, tungston and all those other weird elements and chemicals in those things are not. "But electronics can be recycled." No, they are shipped to Africa and buried in their ground instead of ours. 

I just really don't want books and all forms of researching and learning to go electronic. San Diegans are completely infuriated with the construction of the new Downtown Library. I get that we are in major debt, but at the same time I feel it's also that many don't hold reverence for non-online research and learning.

One of the best quotes I ever heard about researching and reading was by Gay Talese who said we are denying ourselves the pleasure of learning new things because when we use Google we are taken directly to the source we need, but when using books, we have to leaf through other information that may lead us to something else worth learning. 

If you have an ebook, we can be friends still, and please do not take this personally, but I'll be damned if I ever buy or use an ereader, even if they stop printing books. I will just read the ones I have over again.