Sunday, December 03, 2006

Globalisation, how I love thee.

Today I found out something so beautiful that it made me cry tears of geeky happiness.

Borders bookshop has opened a branch in my city. And it's got all the Borders goodness that I remember from long happy hours in London: comfy armchairs, a cafe where you can sit and read, opening hours that go well past my bedtime, veldt-sized spaces where books roam free, interrupting their majestic trek across the plains only now and again to groom each other or to nibble gently on the furniture...

And best of all, it's within walking distance of my house. Friday nights will never be the same again.

8 Comments:

Dr. Brazen Hussy said...

I'm going to be gigging about books roaming the plains all day long. I think I love you, Styley. (Shhh... don't tell Publius.)

Unknown said...

Make sure you do the borders rewards if they have it there. I saved up over $70 to use this holiday season with their holiday account. Borders is also great because you can search for books via the net, and reserve books over the net, and even order them via the net (which is sometimes better than amazon because you can order the boo, go look at it and decide if you want it or not). I also like that you can order used books through them (so it supports used book stores).

I should have asked for Borders stock for christmas.

StyleyGeek said...

Dr Brazen Hussy: *blush*

Shrinky: Yeah, I saw that you could look stuff up and order it in on their awesome computer terminals that are strategically placed around the veldt- uh, shop. I stood there tentatively for a while wondering if I was really allowed to use them or if I had to wait for a staff member. But then I saw other people doing it too.

I'll have to check out that rewards thing. Sounds good.

Anonymous said...

That sounds dangerous.
Am resisting the Borders here fairly easily - the second hand bookshops are far more dangerous...

Stellar_muddle

Lucy said...

I hate to burst your bubble, but my similar bliss when Borders opened in my hometown was fairly short-lived. You should make the most of the late nights before they realise the population is too small to make the hours worthwhile... And you may be doing a lot of ordering; once the initial shelf stock gets sold, it might not be replaced. Alternatively, your city might be more appreciative of its Borders and I will be jealous, not that I can complain, living where I do now.
Hmm, I thought I didn't want to stay in the US forever, but can I give up the bookshops?

StyleyGeek said...

Stellar_muddle: I don't actually intend to BUY books at Borders. (Unless I really need to :) ). But I plan on spending hours and hours sitting in their cafe reading my way through their stock.

Lucy: when I went in yesterday, the queue for the till stretched all the way around the shop. So people are being appreciative so far. But that might be the Christmas thing. And I don't know whether they are getting customers in the evenings at all. They are right near to a cinema, though, so maybe people will come in for the movies and stay for the reading! (No, I don't think so either).

Anonymous said...

Ahh, like Weekend_viking and half the Terry Pratchett collection at UBS during his thesis...
Possibly he looked too scary for the staff to tell him not to...

Stellar_muddle

StyleyGeek said...

That's how I've read every Terry Pratchett book :)

Anyway, at Borders the staff DON'T tell you not to. That's the best thing about it. Reading books on site is practically encouraged (hey, why else have a cafe?)