20 Days of Chill / Ultimate Blog Challenge - So I walked into a bookstore...



Welcome back to 20 Days of Chill. Today the second half of this challenge begins, and the prompt is:

So I walked into a bookstore...

It sounds like one of these bar jokes. You know, here's one of my favorites:

A gorilla walks into a bar and says "A Scotch on the Rocks, please." The gorilla hands the bartender a $10 bill. The bartender thinks to himself a gorilla doesn't know the prices of drinks and gives him 15 Cents change.

The bartender says "you know, we don't get too many gorillas in here."

The gorilla replies "well, at $9.85 a drink, I ain't coming back either."

Makes me wonder if there are any bookstore jokes.

A quick Google search and a few chuckles later, I can confirm that yes, there are!

I haven't been to a bookstore in a while. This is usually something we like to do when traveling in the U.S. I love to visit one of these huge Barnes & Noble that come with a Starbucks. Of course, right? Coffee and books, the ultimate homebody's dream? I especially like the stationary section. I may have an unused notebook or three laying around that I bought because they looked so pretty ;-)



Today is also Day 17 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. The assignment is to write about 

A Day in History

I used to read a lot as a kid and teenager. Back then you would only get books for your birthday or Christmas. What did I do fill the loooong time in-between? Library! 



A yearly membership for a few bucks gave me lots of books! Typically I would go there on Wednesday afternoons (when every school kid in Switzerland has a half day off) and Saturdays, grab as many as you were allowed to take home at a time. Ten, maybe twelve. 

I would retreat to my room and only come out for meals. And class if I had to ;-)

I had a radio / cassette tape player that I used to listen to ABBA, Kim Wilde, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, you know 80s music. 

My love for reading would last all through high school.



Later in college, however, we had to study the classics. In German, French, English and Italian. It all became so hard and "performance oriented", plus I had barely any free time to read for fun so I quit. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened naturally. 

When I started working, I would pick up a magazine for the commute on the train, and that was everything I would read for quite a while. The only books I had were the ones I purchased at airports prior to boarding a long-haul flight. 

As a new Mom I had this plan to tuck Colin into the stroller, walk to the park, sit on a bench and finally read a book again. You know what happens to plans? Life takes over. My baby boy had no interest in sleeping whatsoever. Especially if the stroller was not in motion. Instead of reading in the park, I took long walks to lull him into his much needed sleep.

God forbid I ran into someone and said hello for a minute. His little blue eyes would pop open as if he was asking "who's this? Why are we stopping? Anything exciting going on here?"

I digress. Baby Colin grew older, and before his 4th birthday, that little guy started to read. And to this day he hasn't stopped, even though he also likes his online games and silly videos. Too bad that his favorite authors can't keep up. They write and write for weeks and months, and he'll devour several hundred pages in just a few hours. 

I'm pretty sure his reading contributes to his broad educational background. It bugs me that schools (shouldn't they know better?) cut budgets when it comes to books?



Who knows, it may be the basis of his career as a journalist. He may not become a contributor to National Geographic though. Grand Canyon? OK, I looked, now back to my book ;-) 

Grand Canyon, AZ

Wrapping up this post, here's a list of books I like - maybe I can inspire you?

What's your story, do you like to read? What's your favorite genre? 


Comments

  1. I do love a bookstore!
    But, sadly, I see them closing down more as people switch to kindles and phone reading. I have not actually been inside one for awhile either.

    It’s kind of a lost art—reading. If people would actually read they would learn. And that would change things. But not reading changes things too, just in different ways.

    Glad your son loves reading! That will help him in life!

    God bless,
    Laurie
    Ridge Haven Homestead

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  2. I love reading and I adore bookstores! When I was younger, I would spend hours on the weekends cuddled up in a big chair at barnes & Noble, with a stack of books beside me and a hot chocolate in my hand.

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  3. I'm from a very small town in upstate NY and growing up we didn't have bookstores. But I do remember the bookmobiles when I was in elementary school coming around. How excited everyone was when we heard a community library was going to be built. The kids sold "bricks" to earn money for the library. I do enjoy reading with Lia, she loves books.

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  4. I've always loved books and reading. When I was 8 or 9 I saw a TV show about Applachia and decided that when I grew up I was going to go there and drive a book mobile. Thanks for bringing up some great memories.

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  5. I love bookstores and libraries. Our libraries are free and since Covid no more late fees either. I seldom buy books anymore because I already have a huge collection. I can find most books I want in the library.

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  6. I used to stroll around Cambridge and Ann Arbor perusing the books at the various storefronts. I miss those times.

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  7. I've seen stands similar to the red covers one - brilliant idea! But the mystery section both cracks me up and at the same time, groan terribly, lol.

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  8. I honestly miss reading. Like you, it just kind of became a victim of everything else. I have several books on my Kindle I want to tackle. When I was younger (maybe close to Colin's age), I was a huge reader. I'd be in the library all the time. If I had all this technology back then, who knows how I would have been. I will say I'd prefer reading on a Kindle over actual books because of portability etc. But the big reality is I just need to read more!

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  9. You had to pay for a library membership? Wow. We don't have to pay for membership but if we return the books late we have to pay about 5 cents a day. My first real job was working in the library. They called the position a "page." I thought that was funny. My responsibilities were to put away the books that were returned and keep the shelves in order. I loved it.

    Janet’s Smiles

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  10. I love going to the library, haven't been in a few years, thanks covid for that. Now days it is audio books for me or eaudiobooks

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