Sunday Night at Barnes and Noble

I'm a geek. I have never had a problem admitting to that throughout my life. I taught myself computers, went to Georgia Tech during the summer in middle school, took Saturday classes, was in junior math my freshman year, exempted English in college, and would read four to five books a week for fun. As I've gotten older, I've found it's harder to find the free time, but somehow I do. Heck, I'd be in school again right now if it weren't for all those outstanding school loans (still waiting on my bailout).

Recently, I was sucked into the world of Sookie Stackhouse. Those of you who haven't read the books probably have at least seen or heard of her from the HBO series TrueBlood. There is no real reason for me to like her story so much. I grew up reading R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike, though was always turned off by vampire stories. I went to see Interview with a Vampire because it was a huge group outing in high school, but I had no interest in the Ann Rice books. But for whatever reason, I got religious about not missing an episode on Sunday nights. I actually went into withdrawal when the season ended. But I had rescue coming: my surrogate big sister got me the seven-book series for Christmas. It was great, except that now, instead of staying up until 1 or 2 am doing projects for the rescue, I was going into work hung over from reading till 3 or 4 am. I even ran out and bought book 8 in hardback and finished that in three nights and handed it off for someone else to read. I was once again a book addict.

For my birthday, two people gave me gift cards to B&N and Books-A-Million so I could purchase the next book in the series due out in March sometime. That's great, except now, I've gotten in the habit of reading at bedtime, and I had nothing to read. All my books that I love are still in storage at mom and dad's place because I have no real place to put them. (I usually read Pride and Prejudice, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Awakening once a year.) So after finishing my adoption around 6, I decided to head to B&N to spend one of my gift cards.

It takes me less time to get dressed and do makeup for an awards event than it does for me to pick out a book. I don't know why. Maybe it's a commitment thing: don't want to buy something and hate it. So I took myself down to the fiction aisle. It was swarming with new releases, mostly romance. Not really my thing. Maybe the reason I like the Stackhouse books is because of all the action. I do, afterall, prefer to see those when I go to the movies. So I started down the shelves. Just how many different times can you make a sequel off of Jane Austen novels? I think I counted 12, and they were from different authors. Sorry, but I just don't think anyone could capture me as much as she did for that genre. I kept browsing, squatting down, feeling the pain in my toes from my new boots (happily purchased on sale at Macy's last week), and trying not to care about the young girls squealing behind me about Twilight (yes, many of you are fans, but it just didn't do anything for me, sorry). I don't know what it was about these books, but everything was either a spin-off from a classic or something about a woman in her 40s or 60s trying to come to terms with life or get out of the murder of her husband/boyfriend/lover or husband/boyfriend's lover, etc. I could not find something that appealed to me: a 30-year-old animal lover, happy about not having children, living paycheck to paycheck, and rolling pennies for her Sonic habit (thanks Jake and Dan for contributing to my delinquency this evening - love those Mocha Java Chillers). So what author reaches out to my demographic? Apparently, none. But, I did find a nice compromise: Jimmy Buffett's Salty Piece of Land. What Parrothead couldn't be happy with that find? (But I was bummed to not find Swine Not.)

So I headed to the checkout, along the way finding a new release about a private investigator and his dog told from the viewpoint of the dog. Sounded good, and Stephen King gave a great review, so I grabbed it as well. But no trip to B&N would be complete without a run through of the Bargain section. This is where I pick up most of my dog and cat books, some great, some on sale for a reason. But there, completely out of place was one of my favorite classics. I debated... new mystery, or old friend? I was shopping on a gift card budget of $25, so I knew I couldn't have all three. (Besides, that's why there is half.com.) The geek in me won out, and I swapped out the tale of the pup for the classic The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I trotted along to wait in line, happy to be spending someone else's money on my habit, and proud of myself for not grabbing a frappucino during my spree. That was until I got to the register to hand over my gift card and discovered I had grabbed the one for Books A Million instead. Sigh. I had already committed myself to the books, I couldn't wait to get home to read them, so I shelled out the $37 and sulked out the door. I found redemption at Sonic down the street as I DID have my giftcard to there. Nothing better than a good book and chocolate on a dreary Sunday night.