bookstore

(written July 12, 2008)

The other night, I went to the bookstore with my sister and her family. In the hour that we were there, I read the last two books of The Spiderwick Chronicles. This officially means that I have read the entire series of five books at bookstores.

For my sister's family, going to the bookstore is an outing that they do regularly. (In fact, they went again last night.) Since I usually stay with my sister when I'm in the area, I have often accompanied them on these outings. So, it must have been during one of my visits last year or the year before that I began reading the series.

I know it seems like it took me a while to finish the series, considering I could read two of the books in one hour. Partly, it's because these outings are somewhat "events." Though they happen often enough, they are still considered special. Part of the specialness is that, sometimes, the outing included having dessert or hot chocolate at the bookstore cafe. Also, I often took this time to bond with my niece and we'd spend time just roaming around the bookstore. Plus, I often forgot which books I'd read, so I read some of them more than once.

So, the fact that I got to read the entire series exclusively at bookstores means that I have spent quite a bit of time with my sister's family at bookstores. And that's a good thing.

I know my sister's family loves going to the bookstore. And I enjoy going with them. I also enjoy going to bookstores with other people. So, I wonder how many people also think of going to bookstores as an event? How does that compare to going to libraries?