Mile 23611: Books Were Here

Above: My Local Borders Bookstore Is Closing.

READING KINDA MAKES ME FEEL
LIKE A KID AGAIN.

Flash back to 1993. Imagine a pony-tailed me (I think the 1980s lived on to the early 1990s for me) in the face of a book about 500 pages thick (the pages weren't that wide, so don't think I spent a year to get through it). One of the things that I always looked forward to doing in elementary school was reading through a book, and then taking a comprehensive quiz to garner points as part of the Accelerated Reader system. It was a good program, as it made me work on recalling what I read, and better yet, made me enjoy a whole breadth of books.

2011. I now own a kindle. With the breadth of free classic books on it, it's been a great add-on. I could access tales of Jack London that I read when I was younger, or even classics I have never touched such as Jules Verne's "The Time Machine." However, with the attack of information I've gotten from aspects of medicine all-over, I haven't had as much time to read. There's something about reading a book from front to back in a good setting.

However, with the recent announcement of the closure of Borders' Bookstores, I decided to stop in. Borders was always my favorite of the two big boxers. For some odd reason, it didn't feel as pretentious, and their staff was always nice and courteous. I liked their pricing compared to other big B down the street too. But with the recent sales, I thought I'd get my hands on a couple of books I've been meaning to read. I'll admit that holding a paper book gets me kinda nostalgic. Here's a couple of classic books I got from Borders' this week:

George Orwell's 1984
Craig Ferguson's American On Purpose
John Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie
Ken Keysey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

It's been a odd past couple of years for big bookstores in my area... the closest bookstore to my house where I studied for Step 1 closed suddenly (the other B- store), and then the Borders I prefer to go to is now going to shut their doors. Libraries were great to study at, but there was only one problem, I needed my coffee. And then coffeeshops were also great too, but they had a little too much conversation going on. And no better invention was made by man to get the best of both worlds by combining both... a bookstore cafe.

After I finish my boards for med school and my applications for matching, I look forward to reading all these books straight through. It's certainly been a while since literature and I have spent some quality time together.

Borders Books & Music, you will be missed.

Bookstore Junkie

Above: Semester 1, November 2007, studying in the Dominica Anne Ross Library.

After hours of studying, and creating flowchart after flowchart of material that I still haven't got a gist of organizing, I look up at a giganormous mural of Mary Shelley, Walt Whitman, and some author who goes by Melville (sorry, I'm not a literary major, so all this does is remind me of Dominica's Melville Hall). As I stare with loads of information floating through my head (the loads of pharm, for instance, I've been going through lately), the mural, with its oil-like paint renditions of the three authors / thinkers seem to stare back at me with serious, yet welcoming expressions. Sometimes, though, I get so caught up into a staring contest with them that sometimes, it seems that they're whispering back in my ear, saying...

"ATTENTION BARNES & NOBLE CUSTOMERS... WE WILL BE

CLOSING IN FIFTEEN MINUTES."

I turn around and nobody's there. I think the PA system was feigning the voice of a low-fidelity impresison of a college-bound Walt Whitman. I'm back in the real world, sitting in the Cafe of my local Barnes & Noble (the latest thing open in the suburbs conducive to my studying). I look at my watch: minute hand at the three-quarter mark, hour hand about to hit the tenth notch on the dial. Then I grab my books, and I'm out the door.

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I'll admit there's truth to "setting the mood." As I've turned into a "Medical Nomad" over the last several weeks, going from library to library, bookstore to bookstore, I've learned that being surrounded by stacks and stacks of books, pamphlets, magazines, etc. that are abound of information and by people who have a thirst for knowledge (even not medical) really helps me achieve that same thirst. That's one of the main reasons I can't exactly study at home: surrounded by a comfy couch, a big screen tv, cable internet, and a loving mom and dad (they definitely deserve credit)... I've declared home as a refuge for relaxation... and of course, typing up blogs.