bye-bye borders..

Borders US is having its closing down sales in some of its 200 stores, after filing for bankruptcy protection last week.. and the biggest book seller in Australia, Angus & Robertson went under too...

Being a bookworm, I mourn the demise of these big chains.. I love books.. and I love book stores (and libraries).. I can spend my entire day browsing in them.. I like the sight of well-stocked book shelves.. I love flipping through the pages.. looking at the colourful designs of dust-covers.. reading the synopsis or recommendation in the back.. touching those newly minted books in shrink wrap.. feeling the crispness of the paper.. smelling the scent of ink... peeking into the books, seeing if I like the layout, font size or font type before buying..

These are the things I would not be able to do while browsing an online store like Amazon or The Book Depository.  They, no doubt, provide the convenience but they lacked the means to satisfy all my senses.. call me old-school, but until now, I've yet to buy any books online.. For books, I need instant gratification - I want to hold the books the moment I paid for them.. I like that sense of satisfaction..

So unless all the physical book stores turn virtual, I would still get my books the old-fashioned way.. :)