Thursday, October 22, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Me And Book Stores



So I know I’m getting this out late but it has been a long day for me. I got up a bit late today and had to go right to counseling. Than once I got home I had to work on schoolwork and get caught up, which I managed to do no problem. But I did enjoy my time out today and have been getting out more. And find myself wanting to be out more. It is definitely a new experience for me.
            Not unlike when I was young and first exposed to book stores. As I was mentioning in a column the other week. I mean I knew books were sold in stores before then, but I never knew there were whole stores dedicated to selling books. Just that we had book fairs that I thought were put on by the companies that gave us the book fliers every month at school. Like the publishing companies I guess you could say in hindsight. But the first time I walked into The Book Worm, which was my first book store to ever walk in my eyes lit up like two huge saucers.
            Everywhere I looked were rows and rows of books. I had never seen so many books in one place outside of a library. And even there you were only allowed to borrow them for a short amount of time. Here you got to take them home and keep them for yourself. It was like heaven on Earth for me at the time. Of course I wasn’t allowed to explore at my leisure I was directed towards age appropriate stacks. I managed to find books that interested me from what I had been reading and hearing about in school and then as fast as I had gotten there I was whisked away from it. It happened that way for many years.
            Until I was at the mall one day with my mother and discovered another book store called Borders. Borders was a whole different type of book store from The Book Worm in the sense that it also sold games. Not video games but tabletop games. Games you could craft stories around and have fun at the same time. It was the first time I had seen a book store with anything more than books and bookmarks before. Plus, unlike The Book Worm they had comic books galore as well as magazines too. And the store was huge with plenty of walking space and even places to seat and leaf through a book as well. I ended up getting a couple of paperbacks that first time and some Magic: The Gathering cards. But it was the first of many trips to Borders till it sadly closed eventually.
            The latest book store I have invested in is Bullmoose which also sells music, movies, and video games as well. But it has a huge selection of books at a great price as well. And they keep each section separate. Though only the South Portland and the Scarborough stores are selling everything under the sun. I still support them strongly. It is nice to see them investing in the future of our community with not just the usual electronic entertainment but also books new and used as well. They are like a new age book store as I like to think of them.
            And I recently made a journey back to The Book Worm as I mentioned in a column a few days ago. It was the same as I remembered it pretty much, except for the shelves. Still the same narrow aisles filled with treasures. I found a few books for me and a blue frog with a small book for my mom. And the lady who runs it is still as pleasant as ever. Since I was the only one in the store we were able to have a pleasant conversation. I told her about my Major in college and that I hoped to have my books on her shelves one day. Which I do. Hard to believe the store is younger than me as well.
            I’m sure there will be more adventure with bookstores in my future and I look forward to them. And sharing them with you. As always feel to leave questions and comments below. And feel free to click the follow button so you never miss a post. As for me I have a project to work on for potential publication. *Tips his hat and walks out the door heading towards the study. *

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