become the library?
I mean I know there are coffee shops and such there but am I the only person who doesn’t go into a bookstore to read?
I love the comfy chairs and I will sit down with three or four books and figure out which ones I want. But I don’t think I have ever walked into a store, picked up a book, and sat down for a hour or two just to read the book and put it back.
Is this the norm now days and I’m just slow?
LOL! So true.
I’m the same as you with bookstores, so…someone else have a good answer? 🙂
Oh, I noticed this in Borders branches in Birmingham, London, Brighton and Glasgow. It [irrationally] irritates me. I feel that these people are taking advantage of the shop’s good nature. It doesn’t make sense for me to think that! 😀 Especially when I see books that clearly have been read: cracked spines, dog-eared corners, etc. Drives me nutty. 😀
Perhaps the company encourages it with an idea that with people around reading books would generate ‘library’ atmosphere, getting other people to buy books? I just can’t figure out the psychological angle of it. :<
True, true, true. At our local Borders, I especially see this in the cafe — people will bring huge piles of magazines to their table, flip through them while they have their coffee, then just leave them there, looking considerably dog-eared and really not saleable.
Friday, I ended up finding a spot to sit and write because the cafe was closed and was surprised by the number of people who were plopped on the floor just reading. I’d been a little nervous about taking up floor space with my laptop, but the employee whom I talked to said they’d rather have that — especially since I’d made a purchase — than having people manhandle the books without buying.