They do not open Barnes & Nobles in small towns.
You know it is fall when you no longer pray for rain, but it comes anyway and with it the chill that shakes the brown leaves from the trees and colors the rest sunset.
They do not open Barnes & Nobles in small towns. They, the men and women in clothing so black it reflects the sun away the shadows inside them, do not think country folk treat books well, but mostly it is because they say people like us have no money to spend on stories.
They are wrong.
We pool our pennies and look down among the creek beds for silver because we have often found quarters there washed down from a little girl’s broken piggy bank buried in the mud up on the mountain.
And while we often buy used books so we can read the extra stories highlighted and annotated in the margins, our chosen perfume is the only scent that cannot be washed away by sweat or rain.
It is the smell of a new book falling open.
They do not open Barnes & Nobles in small towns. They say we have no money to spend on stories. When it comes to sales’ reports, perhaps they are right, but they do not know we are the sun shining into their eyes. They are hollow shells while we are open books.
We treat books better than them because we treasure stories.
Photo by Briana Tozour
Dominic Alapat
A powerful poem with lovely lyrical beauty! You cover so much ground here! From the attitude of big book stores towards small towns to the repetition of lines that makes this poem so eloquent! This is so charming: ‘And while we often buy used books so we can read the extra stories highlighted and annotated in the margins,’! And this takes the cake: ‘our chosen perfume is the only scent that cannot be washed away by sweat or rain.It is the smell of a new book falling open.’!
Jaya Avendel
Thank you for this absolutely stunning read, Dominic!
Jordanne || Ofaglasgowgirl
This is so well written and beautifully put. I love little book stores and library’s, there’s so much magic about them.
aimsysantics
Oh this is lovely Jaya! Love all the details you have included, and how sad that they don’t believe the joy of books should be for everyone! That book smell is just the best, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing your lovely words!
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
Jaya Avendel
Thank you so much, Aimsy, for reading!
Shell-Shell's🐚tipsandtricks
When I visit small towns, I have more time to read. They must be so wrong!
Sarah
This is beautiful! Really lovely writing. I love the smell of books, and could smell it as I read this. Beautiful imagery!
Jeff Flesch
This is beautiful, Jaya. Reminds us all about perception, and the unfortunate othering that occurs when people make assumptions and base their ideas about people while hanging onto and reinforcing negative stereotypes, which are completely and utterly inaccurate. You’ve unpacked and interrogated this “ideal” beautifully, my dear friend. I love it!
Raji (@journeyintofantasy)
Wonderful piece! We don’t have Barnes & Noble in Canada, but I recall from when I was living in the US how hard it was to find the big chain bookstores away from major cities. Atleast there were some excellent public libraries around!
barbaraleaver
great write – libraries and books are the souls of humanity
Jodie | That Happy Reader
What a beautiful piece! It reminds me of discovering our Public Library for the first time! I love the smell and feel of a book! Thanks for sharing!
Jaya Avendel
The library is a beautiful place! 🥰
Michele Lee
Jaya, I hope you know just how soul-moving your writing is. It did not take long to completely grab my attention… “and colors the rest sunset.” 🌞 I live in a city that is just under 200,000 and they closed the B & N here and sadly, the last ind. book store closed a few year ago. Closed bookstores has been a sad trend for many years. 😢 Great post!
Jaya Avendel
I feel your nostalgia, Michele, of good bookstore memories! We have one small store left and it is a delight to visit.
Fun thought: my home city has a population of just over 7,000, while the population of the county I live in is roughly 20,000. Your home city sounds unknown and sprawling to me . . . 🤪
Michele Lee
Sounds wonderful, Jaya. There is a longstanding one in Phoenix and Tempe, called Changing Hands Bookstore. Their venue is one of the organizations that hosts the writing workshop I assist with, now online. It is a delight to visit them in-person and thank goodness they survived the pandemic shutdowns.
Your city sounds charming and relaxing. The greater Phoenix area, which my city is part of, has around 5 million people. 🤪 is right!
Jaya Avendel
Love the name of your bookshop!
Michele Lee
Isn’t it great! 🥰 📚 Thank you!
cafebeauty2021
Lovely piece! It’s very true that money tends to win out in these situations. Still, I’m very grateful for the libraries available in most places!
Jaya Avendel
Libraries are one of my favorite places to be! <3
Ingrid
There are no B&N stores in the UK, but I remember some very special second hand bookstores: they are the best! Sadly, they too seem to be dying out…
Jaya Avendel
I LOVE secondhand bookstores. We have got one small one in our town. The ones that hold on are even more special. 🥰
Monch Weller
They don’t open B&N shops in those areas because executives believe small-town folk wouldn’t really be interested in books. But little do they know…
Unwanted Life
A really interesting piece, but I think I lack the context of what Barnes & Nobles is. I’m guessing Barnes & Nobles is some sort of chain store. We don’t have them in the UK, so is Barnes & Nobles a bookstore or something,
Monch Weller
Hello! Permit me to answer your question – yes, it’s a bookstore chain akin to Waterstones and Daunt Books across the pond. 🙂
Jaya Avendel
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Yes, Barnes & Nobles is one of the bigger United States bookstore chains.
Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader)
So true, but those big box stores are overrated anyway!
Jaya Avendel
Well said, Michelle! I prefer my local bookstore and the library.
paeansunplugged
Prejudices continue everywhere…
Love the details you have incorporated, Jaya.
summer with monika
I’ll take the neighborhood bookstore on the corner any day … because they care more about books than colonizing the moon.
Jaya Avendel
Well said, Monika! We have got a local bookstore too. 🙂
Farrokh
So beautifully penned snd so very very true. I know how my flesh and blood, living, growing, learning in the countryside, away from all towns, big or small, are well read, lovers of books, surrounded from birth by books. If only Barnes & Noble knew what they are missing!
Jaya Avendel
A beautiful reflection on this piece! <3