Why Barnes & Noble is something we will always need

A room without books is like a body without a soul. -Cicero

Barnes & Noble is a name all of us know, and a lot of us have very fond memories attached to. From finding your most treasured book, having coffee with friends, to sitting on the floor in the comic section reading about your favorite hero.

This place is more than just a bookstore.

I hope that this post highlights how important bookstores are, but especially the impact that Barnes & Noble has had on us as a culture and to me and my family specifically.

Why I love B&N, and always will

I have always loved books.

From the time I was little, I remember my Grandparents taking me and my sisters to the bookstore. It was always like stepping into a different world.

The first book I ever bought myself was a Sailor Moon comic book from a BORDERS bookstore when I was eight or nine years old.

When that store closed, Barnes & Noble became my go-to place for all things books and music. And I have loved it dearly.

Barnes & Noble was my safe place after high school, my study spot during college, and my favorite date spot with my husband ever since we first started dating.

I spent hours blogging there, had lots of coffee with my best friend, and definitely got my use out of my B&N member card.

We will always need books & bookstores

This is a universal truth.

People have always craved knowledge, stories, to understand things foreign to them. We turn to books in our confusion, for comfort, to live lives that we could not otherwise.

To be someone else for a moment. Explore, imagine and learn.

I love this photo of my husband, Ashton, pictured below. This spot in Barnes & Noble was our favorite. We would spend a lot of time sitting and reading, flipping through comics, and recently, taking turns pushing our son in his strolling so the other could read.

Books are something that we will need forever.

I think that excludes kindle and digital versions. Digital books rely solely on electricity and power. And while they are fun and convenient, you need chargers and somewhere to hook them up.

Books are eternal. You need nothing else to use them.

Reading is meant to be not only your eyes on text, but fingers on paper, bookmarks, tears spilt on pages, and something physical to pull from a shelf.

We will always need books, we will always need bookstores.

How we discover new authors

One of the best ways for new authors to get their names out is in the isles of book stores. How many times have you found a new series that you love to death, all because you stumbled upon a book in a bookstore?

I know that many of my favorite books were picked up this way.

There are plenty of great used books stores as well, but for new authors, the "new books" stores are the place to get seen and discovered.

Books & Coffee: an age old romance

What better feeling is there than walking into the aroma of new books and coffee? Barnes & Noble is unique that they have coffee shop's inside the book store itself.

You can grab a book and your favorite coffee, and just dive into another world for a while. One of my favorite past times is walking the isles, coffee in hand perusing the science fiction and poetry sections.

The Barnes & Noble coffee shop is where I have spent many years of dates with my husband, walking around looking at art supplies with my sister, and catching up over salted caramel mocha's with my best friend.

A place children can grow and play

The children's section of Barnes & Noble is where magic happens.

From their story time hours, to new Golden Books, to their adorable stuffed animals and puppets. There is a section for just about every age group from toddlers to young adults, housing everything from the Hungry Caterpillar books to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The Barnes & Noble children's section is really pretty wonderful, and is completely unmatched by any I've seen in other bookstores. They have more variety, and so many options for different reading levels, as well as books for homeschooling parents and children as well.

My husband, son and I have had so many wonderful trips to this children's section. Our son loves playing with the puppets, and flipping through the cardboard books.

All about the Vinyl, Music, and Movies

There are only a few stores I know of that carry vinyl, and even fewer that carry new vinyl.

Barnes & Noble has a great music and movies section, and has a lot of options. Another thing is that you can listen to CD's before purchasing, which has always been neat.

I have always been able to find newer artists on vinyl like Vance Joy and the Head and the Heart, as well as older classics like the Breakfast Club and Aerosmith.

Online order vs. Pick up in store

While B&N does offer a lot on their website, and with the membership you can get free shipping, the best experience (I believe) is always going to the store and picking a book out yourself.

Places like Amazon.com are great, and I use them every day. But ordering books online will never be the same, or as meaningful, as picking a book off the shelf of a bookstore.

As a note, my local Barnes & Noble just closed two weeks ago, and it broke my heart. I hope that someday we might have a location close to us again. In the mean time, I will travel to the further out locations and order through their site when a new book comes out that we need.

Thank you for reading!

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