Thursday Thoughts || My Favorite Bookstore

Welcome to another Thursday Thoughts, friends! If you're new to my blog and don't know, this is an original, interactive meme I host each Thursday. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. Those of us who participate in Thursday Thoughts every week would love more people to discuss the topics with! That being said, this week's topic is "My Favorite Bookstore!" I've been running low on topics for few weeks now and constantly ask for more ideas from you lovely people. Today, I'm reaching out to you and asking once again because your idea could totally end up here in a few weeks. This is one of those ideas that was contributed by one of you. So, thank you so much to breathesbooks.com for this topic idea! I really, truly appreciate it.

Talking about bookstores is a throwback to some of our previous Thursday Thoughts. The very first week we did this, the topic was Library vs. Bookstore. If you'd like to hear even more of my ramblings on this sort of topic, you can totally go there and read that post. But, today's topic is a little different in that it's simply talking about bookstores. Around where I live I have three main bookstores that come to mind. There's a Barnes & Noble, a Books-A-Million and a Half Price Books. There totally used to be more. There was this awesome Borders Outlet, a regular Borders and a Waldenbooks. And, if you live in America you know about the travesty that was Borders going out of business. And, Waldenbooks was apparently owned by Borders... So, that explains that.

The three main bookstores in my area are all within fifteen minutes driving distance from my house. I know I'm really, super lucky in that aspect. I also quickly want to point out that one part of the bookstore thing that I'm not so lucky about. Independent bookstores. There are absolutely no independent bookstores around here. At least not that I know of. And, that kind of sucks. But, as for my main three book stores (not even talking about my local comic shop which is actually AMAZING), I think for the purposes of this post.. I'm meant to choose my favorite. That is an incredibly difficult task.. I love all three of these stores for their own unique reasons. Half Price Books-- as the name suggests-- has fantastic deals. I've been shopping there a lot lately and have had a ton of great finds. Books-A-Million, I'm particularly fond of because they A. are usually the least busy out of the three and B. have a lot of great bookish swag and things that aren't actually books. They might also have the largest YA book selection of the three stores. But, when you factor in all of the things that make up a "favorite bookstore," for me, Barnes & Noble really takes the cake.

My Barnes & Noble Location!

My Barnes & Noble is the closest bookstore to my house. It literally takes 5 minutes to drive there from my home. Not only that, but it's a pretty decently sized bookstore. It's also probably the store I frequent the most.. frequently. I'd say I go to Barnes & Noble roughly once every week and a half at the most. I definitely go to a bookstore in general once or twice every two weeks. My Barnes & Noble is.. the typical Barnes & Noble store. It's a decent size with a calming, quiet atmosphere that somehow manages to contain that hipster-y vibe.  Since becoming a Book Blogger and BookTuber.. I've discovered something slightly disturbing. No longer do I have the will to leave a bookstore empty-handed. And, that's where all my money has gone for the last six months. Tons and tons and tons of newly purchased books. I have a legitimate problem.. I'm sure many of you can relate, though.

What bookstores do you have in your area? Do you go there as often as I do? More? Let me know by making your own Thursday Thoughts post or commenting below. I would LOVE to hear what you have to say. Also, don't forget that I'm in serious need of future topic ideas. Anything and everything will help. Join us next Thursday for our discussion on a much heavier topic; Gender Bias and Sexism in books and reading culture. See ya then!