Bookstores

There's nothing like walking into a bookstore.  Books are known for transporting you into a different world but I feel that every time I enter a bookstore, I'm walking into someplace new and different.  Yes, even if it's the same bookstore I visit all the time.  Upon walking in, I'm overcome by inspiration and am known to spend hours perusing the shelves or fingering through the pages of a book that may have piqued my interest.  Anytime I ever feel the need to get away and only have a couple of hours, a bookstore is the first place I go.  Oddly enough, bookstores never fail to provide me with hope.  Every time, I leave one I feel like anything is possible and that personal dreams are endless.

Opening a used bookstore is an ambition of one of my very close friends and honestly there are times that I wish we lived just slightly closer because I feel like it's something that I could totally see myself doing as well.  Though I've heard terrible stories about friends being business partners, who knows, maybe we could be like Ben and Jerry's but with books instead of ice cream.  I love places like Barnes and Nobles and Borders but the new releases are always so expensive and I like the idea of a small cafe type place in the middle of a town center.  Also, as much as I love pastries, I would love for the book's cafe to sell other, healthier options like salads or fruit.  I don't know where that sentence came from but I suppose that's the beauty of writing without thinking.  As I grow older and try and determine what I want to do with the rest of my life, I can't help but think that opening a small business would be right up my alley but somehow I doubt that my friend would want a business partner.  Still, we wouldn't actually be competitors if we didn't have stores in the same area.  I have to admit, I feel weird even humoring the idea because I feel like I'm stealing her idea.  Yes, I know she isn't the first to come up with it but it fits her more than me, I guess.  I know that she peruses this little blog too, so I really hope you're not offended by my throwing the idea around myself.  

As I write this post, I can't stop thinking of an idea that popped into my head earlier about bookmobiles and not the type you used to make in grade school.  More like an ice cream or candy truck but only filled with books.  I envisioned driving around in one and parking at a popular park or beach.  People could come up and buy a cheap used book to read while they relax in the sun and enjoy the scenery.  If I was rich or set for life, I would totally do that as I can't imagine this being any sort of a business where one could make a living.   I'd have little tables and chairs that could be placed in the area around where I stationed and maybe a cappuccino or smoothie machine that I could set alongside.  I'd love to talk books with people or have a "story time" where I would read a favorite children's book to the kids nearby.  Gosh, if I could somehow make a living doing that, I would love it - though it would have to be a seasonal thing in this area. 

Anyway, this post totally took control over my writing and I went into a different direction than I anticipated.  Until today, I didn't even realize that a small used bookstore would be something I'd even consider as a potential career path.  Maybe it isn't for me but I suppose it could be as much as any of the other crazy ideas that jump around my brain.  Who knows; but this whole, "what do you want to be when you grow" path that this post is too much for 2:00 am and it's really time for bed.

*So, apparently according to Wikipedia, Bookmobiles have been around forever as traveling libraries.  So maybe if I ever hit the jackpot, I can do that.