If you are a book lover, then you will surely empathize with me when I say that shopping in book stores, especially the popular ones can be extremely harrowing. Gone are the days when readers had respect for literature, handled books with precaution and ensured that it remained spotless for years. An experience in a book store (and God save you if there is a book sale) is fraught with jostles, chaos and the experience of never being able to find the right book in the right section. The reverential Jane Austens may be found on the floor of the kids play section if not amidst Tom Sharp medley of slapstick humor.
To add to it all bookstores, have created special areas where prospective customers can review a book and then decide to purchase it. Started as a thoughtful concept, this reading section is a nightmare. Replete with kids, this area hardly gives you the impression of a place where one would like to take a few minutes to scan the latest bestseller. And the icing on the cake is the smudges and smears that these devils leave behind on the books that you consider precious.
Though feeling the book lends a lot of substance to the final decision of buying, any book...