I enjoy reading quite a lot. I can easily get lost in a book and keep reading until three in the morning, no problem. However, I am very picky about what I read and can easily drop a book in the first chapter if it does not appeal to me, which makes it hard for me to find good books. So being in a town that has only one dominant bookstore, Barnes & Noble, means I must succumb to their ever exceeding prices.

Whenever I do go into Barnes & Noble, I understand right then and there why people don't read books; because they are absolutely expensive! A solid $40 could be dropped on two books if they are hardbacks, or $30 or for two paperbacks. Not only are the prices ridiculous, but they actually want you to join a membership to save 10%, which costs money itself. Literally, the craziest membership I have heard of! Maybe they should look towards Costco or Sam's Club for some help on how to properly proportion membership fees and rewards.

Besides these 10% discounts that you pay for, there are normally crummy sales the store puts forth, like putting bland books on sale that contain useless information like how to basket weave under water, books that have literally been sitting in the store for years. If there is a sale on a good book, then the book price is raised incredibly high to make it essentially the same price it would have been in the first place, like the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling. It was on sale at Barnes and Nobles for 20% off, and the original price was $30, for just one hardback! Additionally, they do not honor their website price, which states it is on sale for 17.99, instead you are stuck with only that 20% off, which is pretty useless.

Another frustrating path Barnes & Noble takes is by preventing the in-store Starbucks from accepting Starbucks gift cards, you know, in a Starbucks. God forbid you use a gift card at its designated location, but what was explained to me was that Barnes & Noble has a policy with Starbucks that further prevents their customers from being remotely happy by refusing to accept gift cards for a drink!

After spending $30 on one book, it's a wonder to me that so many people were hanging out at this Barnes & Noble, but apparently a few handful can afford these books and literally never leave the store, which makes me think for the rest of the population "Why bother?" There are always second-hand book stores out there, but the chances of finding a decent book out of a mountain of unwanted ones is slim to none. Thank God there is Amazon, but even then, what if you don't like the book? Then you are at square one. Reading is expensive, no matter what.