Some things that strike me as worth sharing. Most of the time at least.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A Real Bookstore

Sometimes even the instant gratification of buying online isn't enough.

About once a month since I've moved to Joplin I have found myself wanting to buy a particular book only to find out that the (insanely) lame bookstores of Joplin don't have it. One would think in a town with roughly 295 different restaurants and 3000 different places to buy smokes and lottery tickets that somebody would carry books people actually want.

I am rarely one to complain about Joplin. Truth be told I enjoy it here. Granted I am on the road quite a bit and end up buying most of my books in real bookstores, ones that carry books printed since 2005 and often also possessing the sacred smells of Starbucks, but nonetheless just because I can buy them elsewhere doesn't mean I always want to. Paying $5 for shipping and waiting for 3-7 business days also doesn't cut it.

Sure, I admit that there are some unread books on my desk right now. Sure, a good steward would read those before spending more of said stewards hard earned money on more books but that isn't fun. Or impulsive.

So, tomorrow I leave for the 'Nati and you can bet your bottom dollar you will find me across the river sipping a sacred cup of something hot and expensive while I put my grubby mits on the book I MUST HAVE.

And in case you are wondering this moments must have book is The Shack by William P. Young.

1 comment:

Adam Gonnerman said...

Hey Gilchrist. I stumbled across your blog last night and thought I'd say hello. We traded e-mails a few years ago and I think you were in Quincy but getting ready to move on. I was returned from Brazil and headed for New Mexico (turned out to be a disaster). We're in NJ now.

I'm with you on the book reading, but don't mind waiting a few days for a good read. On amazon.com I can order $25 worth of books and get free shipping, meaning that if I'm patient I can spend the same amount I would in a store but possibly get one more book than in a store because of Amazon's discounts.

Yet lately I've ended up buying my books in the stores, for some reason....