The girlfriend, the kid and I went out to dinner tonight in Sacramento (The Cheesecake Factory woot!!) and on our way home we stopped by Borders.  We had all of 15 minutes because the store was closing and I swear we hit that store like we had planned some kind of surgical strike.  I went straight to History because I'm in a crazy Tudor obsession right now and I was looking for a specific biography on Anne Boleyn, then buzzed over to Literature to pick a Phillipa Gregory that I've not yet read (crazy obsession for shiz).  My girlfriend went straight to Movies/Music and picked up some dvds and the kid went straight back to the kids section, came back with five books, to which I said...you're insane, narrow it down and with like a minute to spare she comes tearing back from the kids sections with an entirely different book and only one which was somewhat surprising, but it's one that I actually think she'll like even more. 

We were in and out ($150 poorer...oh well, it's just money and you can always get more, right?) in under 15 minutes.  And while we normally spend quite a bit more time making our selections...that's pretty much always how it goes.

So, I'm kind of curious if we're just weird of other people have a standard Borders routine.

Nope, not strange at all.  Though, I must admit, I hit the coffee bar FIRST to grab a latte.  Hubby goes for trees, local history or some other nature type thing.  Son goes for Mar (or some other kind of anime <--sp?) and currently he's into the Star Wars Novels.  Daughter goes for her couple selected series in the kids section.  I peruse the clearance shelf (love a bargin!).  Unless I'm in for a specific book of "idea of a book", it's the latte, then the clearance.

That's our MO.

Who's next?

Ann & my gorgeous boys Nobel, Figlewitz, Ridley, D'Marco, Gino & Nunzio!
Enjoy the yogie bar Efram!

I go straight for anything about massage therapy.. the body the brain.. Kineseology.. all that good stuff LOL.. that kinda stuff cus well.. yeah and then I go to astrology. then I go try to find a good new horror/mystery/medical thriller yay

I used to go to a Borders across the street from a job I had, and ugh...  did NOT help with my manga obsession. 

Now I go to a Barnes and Noble, and avoid the manga section - haven't bought one in months now! 

I have no real routine.  I just check out the new arrivals, and the handful of authors I like the best.  Then I'll usually head over to the magazine area for a Computer Arts/Projects, then to the coffee bar to pay and also pick up a drink. 

I don't think it is really a routine thing though, even though I go to the bookstore often. 

John usually looks at magazines first, then heads down to sci-fi. Sometimes he also swings by the history section, looking for WWII books (he plays Flames of War). While he's doing that, I'm usually looking at Bargain Books, or local history, with the occasional foray into Revolutionary War history and crafts. Since I work in a craft store, and get a discount there, I rarely buy craft books at Border's. And I'd look at CDs there if they weren't so stupidly expensive. LOL!

None here, either.  In fact, I had to drive an hour to get to a bookstore for the first three years of living here!  They finally built a tiny Books-A-Million.  I go in, scoff at their one section of "Social Science" books, hit the sci fi section and the classics, then I'm out. 

You can have them sent to your cell phone now, too, so you always have them with you! LOL! John just signed up for that, now that we have real cell phones.

Yes, yes it is.

Nerd.

Our local Barnes and Nobels sees way to much of our family.  I haunt the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section and the teen books, my daughter goes through the Teen books and the cookbooks (I usually join her there), then we generally hit the CDs if there's something she's looking for.  I will also check the Bargains and the Just Arrived section.

The discount card saves us a real bundle there - far more than the annual fee.  Not only are all three of us pretty voracious readers, but I like buying books as gifts.

Oh, I have a pattern, for sure. 

I go directly to the back lefthand side of the store. There's an island of big easy chairs there, squarely at the intersection of Sci-fi/fantasy, graphic novels, fiction, religion, and the Starbucks.  I deposit my jacket on a chair. If I'm there for the long haul, I'll go get a plain coffee, black with a few Splenda, then walk around with it, browsing (or a green tea with lemon).  If I'm just there to pick up a few books, I skip the coffee.  Then, I hit this display table near the chairs, that's the featured Fantasy/comic books of the week, and I poke through there (which is how I found my beloved Song of Ice and Fire).  I also hit the New Age section, looking for specifc authors, if they have anything new, or whatever.  I grab the book or books that I specifically went in for, set them aside, then look around for one I'm not so interested in buying, but would love to glance through, while I'm enjoying my coffee.  Often this is an art or photography book, or some kind of informational non-fiction.

I've had a similar pattern since they built the Barnes & Noble, like 15 years ago, it would be at least once or twice a week.  Nowadays I don't get there but once every month or so. I order most of my books through Amazon, so I mainly just go to relax with coffee and a book, instead of just to shop.

I try not to go near any bookstores. I spend way too much money.

In the store and on a mission to the manga section. Grab any new ones then check over the rest in case I missed a release or series. Then I'll wander to the bargain books. I've gotten a number of nice aquarium books there. If I have time or am waiting on someone, I'll go into sci-fi, nature, or medical sections.

Recently I've decided that the library is my bestest best friend ever. I've been raiding their manga section (although it's mostly shoujo (girl) oriented stuff and not my preference) and sci-fi and fantasy for free! They'll even transfer books between libraries for me! Aside from keeping my money, I won't have to go buy another bookcase (might have to anyway, considering the 20 some manga piled on my dinner table right now).