El Cuarto de Amy

I love bookstores. I love the smell of bookstores. That combination of paper and ink, so subtle, yet so books, that you'd never mistake it for something else. I love the secrecy of each aisle. Maybe you'll know someone in Fiction section, or meet the love of your life in Poetry. There's a certain mystery in bookstores. The hushed whispers, the reading nooks. I love that everyone stands around engrossed in a book, trying to find that perfect one to take home today. I love that every book is organized by genre and then alphabetically.


I love looking at the rows upon rows of books. I love their covers, their spines. The tables showcasing NEW BESTSELLERS. The shelves of Reference books. I can spend hours upon hours in bookstores. It was even worse when I worked in publishing. I'd pull Kurt into every bookstore we passed to make sure our books were where they were supposed to be, pointing each one out to him as he got more and more restless and ready to leave. I don't know what it is about bookstores that draws me in so. Kurt urges me to buy my books on Amazon. We have Amazon Prime so 2nd Day Shipping is free and books are usually cheaper. I also have a Kindle and can buy ebooks on a whim at the touch of a button. But that old-fashioned, stubborn part of me wants to hold a book and wants to browse books in a store, touching each one, reading the flaps. There's something comforting, even peaceful, in that tactile experience.


When I heard that Borders was going bankrupt, I knew it would be a huge blow to the publishing world. But it was also upsetting to me. It felt like the precursor to a life without bookstores, without that experience. I hope more than anything, that bookstores will survive. Shopping online just doesn't offer the same satisfaction that shopping in a bookstore does.


Today, I went into Barnes & Noble to find The Bridges of Madison County for my book club. Forty-five minutes later, I left with three books. I spent the time slowly browsing the Fiction shelves, looking for anything that caught my eye, or even a reminder of a book I'd wanted to read, but haven't had the chance. To be completely honest, I left with three books because I thought six would be overdoing it a bit. I made a list of ones to get in the future, and then forced myself to leave before I spent another 45 minutes as the creepy girl aimlessly roaming the shelves. 


My trip to B&N wasn't the best part of my night, however. I got some amazing, exciting news I will share...at the end of this post. Come on, you need some incentive to keep reading! The best part of my night, was this: 

From left to right: LOL, el porta retratos con la foto, el televisor

On the door to my room

This week, I'm staying with my friend and her husband. She is from Costa Rica and it appears that while I was at work today, she labeled everything in her apartment in Spanish. There is a sticky-note on every surface in the apartment. It totally made my night. My favorite is the one on my bedroom door, above. I can only assume this is her way of teaching her husband Spanish. Or teaching me Spanish, who knows. I've been walking around the apartment reading them and laughing (and learning). It's because of little things like this that I love her. Also, that she's putting me up while I'm "displaced."


Ok, so here's the big news. Are you ready? Our apartment's ready!! I'm moving back in tomorrow night! I'm so excited. Our landlords called today and I absolutely cannot wait to go home. Although I was a little surprised to feel a touch of sadness that I'm leaving this little sleepover with my friends. I guess there's always the next hurricane.