Books and Bookstores

For tonight's bedtime story, I read A Busy Day at the Farm, an enjoyable story for pre-schoolers written by Doreen Cronin that includes animal stickers within its pages. The kids laughed raucously at the part when Farmer Brown opens the refrigerator door to find only an eaten apple core because Duck ate everything else.

I purchased the book at Broadway Books (1714 NE Broadway) after receiving a $10 bookstore gift card from a friend who purchased a few gift cards to distribute to friends. My friend wanted to support the bookstore after it lost quite a bit of business due to the December snowstorms. I hope small, local bookstores like Broadway Books endure because I love books and because such bookstores help create a sense of local community that all too easily fades away when large chain bookstores move in. This does not mean I seek to do away with all large bookstores. If small bookstores fade away because buyers choose to buy at large bookstores, then the people have chosen through their buying habits. But I hope this does not occur, and that enough book lovers frequent local bookstores to help local communities flourish.