The Book Biz

I recently went shopping at a huge bookstore chain that was having a close out sale. Even though I was so excited about the discount prices on books I'd been wanting to purchase, I also felt a little sad about the whole thing. And I couldn't help but think of some of those wistful scenes from a favorite movie, You've Got Mail. Except in this case, the "big bad bookstore chain" that sells cheap books and legal addictive stimulants is the one going under by the new world of electronic books.
Don't get me wrong, I love my I-Books App. The classics are free, I can read in the dark, look up words, highlight and copy quotes with just a tap of my finger along with many other cool features. I'm not going to give up I-Books, nor do I think this is "the end of civilization as we know it". But I still felt a little sentiment toward the good old fashioned book that you can hold in your hand, smell, flip through and loan out to friends. That's one of the fun parts: The whole book culture of loaning out and borrowing from friends.
I know this culture isn't completely outdated...but on that day, walking around this prominent bookstore, I felt a little tinge of that empty sadness about its closing. I was happy to buy three new books and I do enjoy reading them the old school way...and I only slightly miss the electronic features ;)