Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Goodbye, Borders. Thanks For The Memories...

A lot of people are blogging & tweeting about the demise of Borders.  Call me a lemming if you will, but I choose to speak on this today.

I used to read a lot when I was young, but lost interest in my tweens.  20 years ago, YA was not an option.  I went from Judy Blume to 1984 with no in between levels.  No books on 15 year old girls trying to find their way.  Or not many anyway.  I didn't read much after that, unless required.  On occasion I'd find something that interested me, but it was sporadic at best.  Usually it was pop culture related - biographies of actors or musicians I was a fan of.  Tugboat is an avid reader.  A hoarder of books I'd call him.  I hated going to a bookstore because he lingered in there for hours if time allowed.  I had better things to do. A few years back a friend got me into Harry Potter, and I devoured the books.  But I just read those books and that was it.  Same with Twilight.

Then, about a year and a half ago, and I cannot remember how we starting chatting (likely about Twilight), but Kristin and I (we were co-workers at the time) got on the subject of books.  She brought me The Hunger Games to read.  Then Shiver.  Then The Body Finder.  Then Hush, Hush.  Again, I devoured, but I was hungry for more.  I was hooked on YA and I've been going ever since.

Now Tugboat calls me a book hoarder, but he has made room on his shelves for my ever growing YA collection.

We spent many long lunch breaks in our local Borders -- browsing, reading, chatting, brainstorming, writing.  We were so relieved when our Borders was one of the 400 that stayed open after the original announcement.  I feel like Borders has given me more than books - it's given me friendship.  It's given me a re-awakening of who I am and who I want to be.  It's given me so much more that I really cannot put into words.

As of Friday, only 5 days after they announced that the bankruptcy fell through and they were closing for good, they will no longer be Borders.  We took one last trip to our Borders as we know it last night. I picked up Shine by Lauren Myracle.  Kristin got Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton.

I can't speak for everyone, but I will always remember the last book I bought from Borders.

1 comment:

  1. I created a monster!! lol. What a sweet post.

    Yes, Borders will be missed, oh so much. Let's cross our fingers that location will stay a bookstore.

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