When the rumor of a Barnes and Noble coming to our town first started circulating, I was hopeful but not confident it was true.
Guess what? It was!
Our local Barnes and Noble—just a five-minute drive from my house!—opened the end of August, while we were away on vacation. Since then, I just haven’t had the opportunity to get up there. But Jeff and I remedied that this past Saturday.
As we were walking from our car to the store, I told my husband, “I really want this store to stay, so I’m committed to buying one thing every time I go in.” (Of course, this means ignoring the fact that I can get the titles cheaper on Amazon.)
He agreed.
It was nicely crowded inside, which was great! The space was laid out differently than I’d seen before, with these lovely curved walls where books are set up facing out. It was bigger than I expected, too. The cafe–which I was worried wouldn’t be there, because I’ve noticed a few locations throughout Dallas where they’ve taken the cafes out–was quite spacious, including not just tables but some booths as well. I’m looking forward to using it as a place to write.
I loved not only their selection of books but also of puzzles and games, toys for my grandkids, and gift items as well.
My biggest disappointment was the “Religion” section. It was quite small and not well organized (in my opinion). This also means the Christian fiction section within the Religion section is tiny! However, I did find a couple of my fellow Inspired by Life and Fiction authors with their covers facing out!
Along with shopping for books (and bookish items), I am looking forward to the events and authors they will host. We attended such things at a bookstore near us (an independent bookstore) when we lived in Austin, and I miss that!
Finally, we left the store, not with one thing, but five–the next book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, a few board books for my great-nephew, and a family game that has needed replacing! I have a feeling that will be the way we roll. 😂
Do you frequent a bookstore in your community that you love? Give them a shoutout in the comments!