First stop was Barnes & Noble, a chain in which I've spent thousands of dollars over the years. Nothing much has changed, really, since my last visit except for the even greater sparsity of customers. Maybe three of us walking the floor and three or four others sitting with coffee and magazines. I did end up buying a copy of James because I'm so tired of waiting for my library copy (I was still number 36 on the waitlist after weeks of waiting). But the letdown in B&N is always the same: no current books on sale to speak of unless you consider $3 off a new hardback to be a game-changer, and absolutely no publisher overstock on sale. So instead of coming away with an armload of books the way I used to (usually for about $50 in total), I carried only my first edition copy of James away and still spent over $30, counting tax and the little magnetic page markers I also bought.
I should add that I'm not at all a fan of those 3 for the price of 2 or buy one get the second for 50% off "sales" because I often end up buying something I really don't want to read just to get the discounted price on the one or two I did want to read.
But that's not even the worst of today's visit. I was reminded again of just how poorly the Barnes & Noble "Rewards" program is run. In order to get a ten percent discount via the card B&N issues, a reader has to get ten "stamps" to their account, with each ten dollars spent earning one stamp. I've used the card several times now, and I'm convinced that B&N thinks we are all a bunch of dopes because the stamps are based on the ticket total for "eligible" purchases, whatever the definition of "eligible" is in this case (I do understand why tax should not apply). Every time I've used the card I get peeved because B&N refuses to round up the total spent to the nearest ten dollars that earn a stamp. For instance today, I spent $29 before tax and still was only given credit for two stamps. I figure I've missed out on almost as many credits now as I've earned, and I think that's wrong, if not insulting.
As for Half Price Books, this will be brief. I refuse to sell to Half Price Books anymore because I consider their offers even more insulting than B&N's reward program. Well today I found a book I sold to them a while back (my name is inside this one) for 50 cents marked $7 on the shelf. Honestly, that just made me laugh at myself for being too lazy to have refused the offer and carry those books back out to the car.
But it's not all doom and gloom today. Some of you know that I've been undergoing a lot of medical testing for almost 90 days now. I had another two-hour session yesterday that revealed that he autoimmune disease difficulty I've been having with my eyes has as mysteriously disappeared (at least for the moment) as it mysteriously first appeared early this year. The condition did leave me with what appears to be some permanent damage in the left eye, but the right one is back to normal. So it's a happy day...and I need to keep reminding myself of just how lucky I am today, B&N and Half Price Books be damned.
That is a very happy thing that your condition has improved like that and your right eye is back to normal! Yay for good things. What a blessing. :D And next time you go book shopping, maybe skip Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books and just go to your favorite Indie bookstore instead.
ReplyDeleteGood advice. ;-) The only reason I didn't, really, is that the bookstores are in three different directions from me an I had to be near one of them for another reason, so started there.
DeleteVery glad to hear Sam that your medical tests show that things are getting better and I wish you continued good news. Going to the doctor the older we get is scary but on the plus side they have so many advancements these days.
ReplyDeleteI have a Barnes and Noble near me. I rarely go there though. I should because it pretty much is the last major chain. Regarding selling books I used to go to The Strand when I lived in NYC. It's a legendary bookstore but in terms of selling books it depended on who on the staff was doing the evaluating.
It's all kind of wearing, Kathy. The news that whatever caused the condition, even if we never identified it, has gone quiet came completely out of the blue. But as you say, medicine seems to be changing faster today than ever before, especially when it comes to testing.
DeleteI just don't have a lot of sympathy for B&N anymore. They managed to push every other book chain to the brink before Amazon came along and finished those off and crippled B&N itself. I long for the days when bookstores competed on price and service. I know they had an average 40% markup from what sellers paid for a book and what they charge at list price (it's been a few years since I've researched that number) so giving customers a 10% break is not exactly hurting them. So rounding down on that little Rewards program of theirs seems extremely petty to me. It's not the money that bothers me; it's the attitude.
What a relief, Sam! Glad at least one eye is back to normal. Everything gets chancier as we get older, as Kathy mentioned. I'm struggling with my far vision in my right eye, but grateful for the near vision in my left.
ReplyDeleteI would rather donate books than sell them for next to nothing. There is an assisted living near by and some books go there, others to a home for mothers and children who need help.
Good luck, Jen. The thought of losing my eyesight terrifies me. It's plagued our family for generations, probably due to undiagnosed macular degeneration problems. I've had that for years, my only sibling has it, and my father's vision when he reached his nineties was very limited by the condition. One of his sisters went totally blind from it, too. As an aging reader, losing my eyesight is probably my worst nightmare.
DeleteNow that hospitals and similar facilities are more open about accepting books, I've started doing the same. During and shortly after the Covid mess, I couldn't find any place that would take them. Plus, I've passed on hundreds of books to family and friends...then they're their problem. ha
Very glad to hear that your test results health problem has taken care of itself, Sam. Health and medicine is such a mystery sometimes. And especially when it is your eyes and vision. Both my husband and I have the same concerns about losing our sight as we get older.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with your problems with Barnes & Noble. I do wish we had one anywhere near us though, because there are books I need to see in person before I purchase them. We have a great Indie store but it is expensive. I don't know, maybe Barnes & Noble would not have any stock that they don't have.
And your story about Half Price Books was interesting too. We just donate our books to the annual book sale (and hope we don't forget and buy them back).
Thanks, Tracy. It's a relief to know that the eyes are stabilized again for the moment. I'll be having to do tests every few weeks to make sure that nothing changes, but for now it's looking so much better than it was a month ago that I can't complain. Believe me I understand your anxiety about losing sight.
DeleteBarnes and Noble always saddens me because I can't help but compare it to what it used to be. I used to visit this store at least once a week, usually twice, but now I find myself going only six or seven times a year. How many $30 hardbacks or $18 paperbacks do I need, after all. At those prices, I'm very unlikely to take a chance on an unknown author, and that was half the fun.
I'm glad the news is mostly good about your eyes, but still the mystery of it all has to be frustrating. It's been years since I shopped at B&N and they haven't don't much to entice me back. I did visit one of their newly remodeled store in NYC last fall which was very nice, but I still prefer the city's indies. I'm lucky to have an excellent indie in CT, and one that's still struggling after Hurricane Ian in FL. If I splurge on a new release, I'll buy from one of them... but I've been disappointed in the limited backlist selections.
ReplyDeleteI did notice at the baseball game that I was not seeing as well from a distance as I had before this all happened. It doesn't really impact me on a daily basis, but it was much more difficult to follow the baseball than I've ever experienced before.
DeleteYou hit on something that seems to be getting worse and worse. All the bookstores, including many of the indies in my area, carry basically the same book. Anything much considered backlist has to be ordered. I usually don't have the patience to wait...and the second trip requirement to pick it up is a problem sometimes...and end up ordering from Amazon instead. And then I get addicted to the lower prices offered by Amazon along with the "free" delivery all over again.
I hope the eye affliction is gone for good. Mysterious how these things just appear. You need your eyes for reading & reviewing! Some of these kinds of bookstores have really gone by the wayside. I have mostly stuck to the library .... but I bought a copy of James while on the road trip back from Calif in a small town in Montana at an indie bookstore. I'd go there again.
ReplyDeleteI hope it is gone for good, too. The doctor sounds really hopeful that it may be done for good, but I suppose only time will tell. I've already noticed that my headaches are not as frequent and they are of shorter duration, so something has definitely changed.
DeleteI really miss the days when there were big bookstores in most shopping malls, sometimes two or three different ones in Houston malls...plus record stores and electronics stores. I hardly ever set foot in a mall anymore because there's nothing much there for me anymore. I agree with you about indies; I always look for them when traveling and once I find one I like I will always stop back by when in that area. I found a good one called Dog Eared Books in Ames, Iowa, a couple of years ago that I really liked, and I'm hoping to find more during the upcoming road trip (found Square Books in Oxford, MS, a number of years ago and have revisited that one multiple times since).