Book Stores Mean Civilization

You know what I would really appreciate having in this town? An honest to God national chain book store. We have NONE. I can't think of a single one in our entire county. Who thought that would be a good idea? The only places to shop for new books are Wal-Mart, Kmart, random grocery stores, or the Christian book store on Main Street [if, indeed, it's even still there]. Then we have a used book store behind Main Street which is basically just a very small hole in the wall with books lined from floor to ceiling - you literally have to walk sideways to get through various parts of this place. I think it was built and stocked based on Stephen King's book, Insomnia; more specifically, Atropos's underground haven, crammed to the gills with the magpie-like collection of objects from random people that crossed his path. It smells musty and vaguely of night sweat. Other than that, we have the various county libraries. They are quite small, needless to say; we only have a population of a little over 10 thousand residents. But I am not one that likes borrowing, anyway; I am a chronic re-reader, and need the option of selecting any number of books at random off of my own book shelves. I may read it in a couple of days worth time, or it may take me a month--I don't care much for deadlines or late fees.

I want a "real" book store. I want a Borders or a Barnes and Noble, even if they are giant, soul eating corporations. It's not as if they have a Mom and Pop store to put out of business around here. I want wide isles and pretty displays and a little coffee nook because, even if I don't drink it much, the aroma of coffee and books just goes so well together. I want to be able to look up a book online and drive 10 minutes downtown and walk into the book store and pick up my book. I am tired of having to order online or, heaven forbid, drive two hours both ways to the next county over to pick up a $10 or $20 book. I shouldn't have to travel two hours for a book; the very idea is absurd. Also absurd is waiting on the mail for a book. There are too many possibilities awaiting the fate of those purchases, and the handy little tracking numbers don't always work. I recently made a purchase online and the tracking information I was given insisted that my order didn't exist. Even though the company assured me that my order was en-route to my house and it actually arrived several days before promised, I spent many spare moments wondering into which rabbit hole my hard-won titles would appear. I still get other peoples mail who don't have the slightest resemblance to my own name or address, and I've lived in this house for almost 8 years [and who knows how much of my own mail has shown up in stranger's mailboxes]; clearly I have reasons to doubt the mail system.

I just want a book store here in my town. It's a simple request and seems like it would be quite profitable, all things considered. Perhaps someone decided that country really does mean stupid, and we don't read the things. The big Ingles grocery had a fairly decent selection of books once upon a time, but the last time before today I went on an earnest book hunt, last month, I found that the book section there had been halved in size. Further, half of that half are always romance novels. *wrinkles nose* Not my type of reading material. It is the same with the selections at Wal-Mart and Kmart - you get one double sided row to peruse in both of those stores, and half of their inventory is of the romance genre. A quarter of the remaining books are dedicated to YA, which is okay by me, but then the majority of the rest is SPY NOVELS, or what have you. Those books that everything on the cover is written in bolded capital letters. I guess that is the only way they ever catch anyones attention otherwise. Again, not my kind of late night fodder. I like my books to be fairly smart. That's not to say I haven't read [and thoroughly enjoyed] V.C. Andrews, Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling, and even my beloved Stephen King, who falls into the realm of "crap." But they are enjoyable crap. They offer something other than bodice ripping [well, maybe not the V.C. Andrews stuff] and espionage [well, maybe not the Dan Brown]. I have noticed that these authors are readily available in my area, but the Audrey Niffeneggers of the world are few and far between. Indeed, I had to travel to four different stores [not actual book stores, mind you] to track down The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm sure Her Fearful Symmetry will be just as difficult to put my hands on.

Perhaps the reasons why these kinds of authors are so overwhelmingly absent from my town are precisely why country has come to be synonymous with stupid and we aren't allowed to have book stores. We have gotten too used to reading crap, or not reading at all; complacent with what we have, or what is lacking, rather. We are the literary living dead. As a friend has suggested, maybe there is a correlation between the small town civilians and their Bible-hugging ways; it's the one book we have readily available.

My town is a beautiful little town, but BYOB [bring your own book] if you come for a visit.