Saturday, July 11, 2009

Oops, I Did it Again...

...And no, I'm not referring to Britney's infamous song either! I'm sure you can figure it out though-- I said just yesterday, in my last post, that I need to learn to control my buying urges around books. I promised that I wouldn't buy any more for a while, and work hard to get my TBR pile down. And I was doing so good... ....Until today! Yep, that's right, I didn't even last a full 24 hours! I'm terrible, I'm weak, and I need help. I know they have an AA, etc, but they need to start a BOA (Book Obsessed Anonymous, for those of us bless/cursed with BOD, Book Obsessed Disorder. Who's with me?! Come on, stand up, be proud-- you are an obsessed book lover!) But in a (futile) attempt at redeeming myself, here's my story:
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I was planning on stopping in at B&N today, to pick up two books I had ordered in. The hold expired today, so I couldn't put it off any longer. Plus, I already had to head up north (my nearest B&N is 60+ miles away), so I figured I might as well do it now and save myself another trip. So I walk into B&N, and instead of being the good little girl and walking straight to the check out desk, where the Order/Requested books are put aside, I tell myself I'll look around for a few minutes-- look, touch, but NOT buy! I'm confident that I can do this... ...And then I remember that I haven't bought this month's RomanticTimes Book Review Magazine. So BAM, I snatch it up. Okay, that's fine-- it's only a magazine, not a handful of books! I'm not breaking my rules, I'll be fine. And since I'm doing sooooo well, I decide to give myself a few more precious minutes of browsing time before going up to buy the 2 BOOKS (and now one magazine) and leave. Yeah, right, bad idea! This is where I should have paid closer attention to the flashing red lights going off in my head. But did I listen? Nope, instead I see this huge display rack filled with Nora Robert's newest release, Black Hills. Well, I've been wanting to read it, I can't get over the cover art, which, in my opinion, is one the best I've seen from NR is a while, and, as my excuse, I'd already promised my grandmother, fellow book lover and fan of NR's work, that when I bought this book, I'd let her read my copy. BAM, Black Hills goes into my hands as well. Okay, no problem-- that's only one extra book...even if it is almost 20 bucks. I can live with that-- I'm still being good. Mostly... And then I notice that since I was last in here (about a month ago, which is the only thing I can be proud about in this whole story), they've moved my beloved Romance section from back by the SciFi and Manga to in the middle of the frickin' Fiction/Literature shelves. Before, you knew where it was-- and it almost seemed to fit in where it was at. Now, it's almost hidden in between the mysteries and regular adult fiction, even though it's technically towards the front of the store more. Took me a few minutes to find it, and there was no way I was going to ask someone because: A) I know my way about a bookstore... and even if I don't, I'm not letting the college bimbos that work at my store to know that! I have some pride, a title to uphold (I am, after all, TBQ!) and because B) I figure if I can't find it, I have no more opportunities for books to scream out at me and break down my already fragile control. Well, after being upset that they'd moved it, I head off searching. And what should catch my eyes while looking? Why, the Teen Section of course! My second favorite section in the entire store. I figure I can handle it (Besides, I'm still 'looking' for the romance, remember? How can I thoroughly look if I skim over areas?)...Again, red lights AND sirens wailed in my head, but I didn't even pause. Off to the YA... ...Where, *somehow*, TWO more books find their way into my eager arms: Gone by Michael Grant (My excuse, it's on my 999 and Paranormal 999 challenge for LT-- I needed it!) along with Wicked: Resurrection by Nancy Holder. Now, I've already got a freebie E-Book format of this one that I'm currently reading, but I'm such a big fan of this series, I've been waiting forever for the conclusion, and to be frank, this E-Book print size has just been bugging me. By now, I'm realizing that I need to stop-- my hands are getting filled (Though not to full capacity-- believe me, I've been known to carry a lot larger stack than this up to the front, holding them all for dear life so they don't crash to the floor, but refusing a hand basket, since, in my mind, this would only allow me to GET EVEN MORE BOOKS before I check out. See, I'm not dumb-- I know their tricks!). I'm heading up the front to check out, when I see a lovely black-on-white sign that declares: ROMANCE. Ah, I've found them--great, I think, now I know where they'll be when I come in again. And I quickly walk past, I really did... until I decided to stop and see if they had any more of Janet Chapman's Highlander Series in stock (they did, Loving the Highlander and Moonlight Warrior). Both my grandmother and I love this series (I got her into it, like I have with many others), so again my explanation is "But I'm not buying it for myself-- I'm buying it for her to read... and then give back to me, where it will become a permanent part of my library!" See, it's all good, I've come up with the excuses to help cover my a$$! Now, with 5 books and one magazine in my hands, I power-walk up into line, breathe a sigh of relief when I put my armful down on the table, knowing I managed to control myself from looking at the various display racks, discount and new releases piles they had on the way up. But when they went to get my two reserved books from behind the desk, they couldn't find them. They look it up, and on their computer, it says it expired YESTERDAY. Now, that's bullsh**, because the emails I got from them said Sat, July 11th. I tell this to the lady, politely, thinking there must be a mistake-- on their end, of course. She's nice about it, says she's not sure why it says one thing there and something else on my copy, but she asks if I'd like her to go and find the two books on the shelf. Of course, I say yes, these were the books I originally came in for. Off she goes to find them.... And returns a few minutes later with one, but not the other. "Let me look up the info on that one again, maybe I'm searching the wrong area." Okay, I say, and then she's off to look again in a new place. To make a long story short, after standing there for about 10 minutes, and with the help of the assistant manager on duty, they still can't find said book. Either it's been miss-shelved, misplaced, or someone has bought it. They promise to look for it, and if it doesn't show up by Monday, order a new one for me. I'm a bit pissed by this point, after driving 70 miles, having their store corrupt my control and forcing me to buy 6 more items than what I came in for, and then leaving with one less than I originally came for. But, nice person that I am, I bite my tongue (mostly) and tell them that will be fine... and let them know that I do live so far away, so I'd love if they could find the missing book and remember to call me ASAP. My grand total for the day (with my membership card, aka my best friend): $68.45 I originally went in for the two books, which may have cost $30, max, and instead I come out (30 minutes later) with 7 items and a shattered buying control. *SIGH*. And yet, I can't get too upset-- I love book shopping, even when I get upset for spending more than I planned, and breaking my 'work on the TBR' goal. Here's my haul: Photobucket
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And, as if that wasn't bad enough, here are a few books that my grandmother (bless her soul) gave me to take home. See, she doesn't have the room to hold a large book collection, though she reads almost as much as I do. So we have a book relationship-- I provide most of her books to read, either from my collection, which I loan to her, or buying ones that she's interested in, knowing that she'll eventually give it to me to keep and read myself. But occasionally, when she runs out of books to read before I can bring her down a new stack of them, she goes to the store to find a few to tide her over, and then gives them to me. I love her, don't get me wrong, but I still blame her for my ever-growing TBR pile! ;) LOL. Here's what she gave me: Photobucket
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And here's the other book I went in for (and left without, at least for now): Photobucket That's it... I'm off to punish myself for today's mishap-- I'm going to attempt to organize my bookshelves and TBR pile instead of spending the rest of the evening reading. Maybe it will make me learn, and my control will be better next time... ...Then again, probably not! After all, it's who I am, and I'm proud of it! ;) Until Next Time, The Book Queen

4 comments :

Blanche said...

Oh TBQ!! I'm not laughing at you, really! I know exactly what happened to you because it happens to me too! Way too often as a matter of fact! Actually I can be in the bookstore and at the register with 5 or 10 books before I realize what I am doing.......it is a sickness! LOL My car drives me to the bookstores automatically.......I'm blaming the car!!

You did get some great books though! :)

The_Book_Queen said...

Blanche--

I'm tell you, this 'disorder' has the ability to make us forget what we're doing until it's too late. LOL. And I love that excuse-- blame it on the car, why don't you! (Glances out the window) Come to think of it, my car has been having these odd symptoms lately, wanting to swerve in the middle of the road if it sees a bookstore.... Hm, maybe I'll borrow your excuse! Lol.

Thanks. Finished one already, Wicked: Resurrection. Good book, love this series. Review (hopefully!) to come soon...

Enjoy,
TBQ

Booklover1335 said...

Hey TBQ,
Please accept this as my membership to the BOD club :)

I totally feel you on the missing book. I hate it when that happens. They should have at least offered to mail it to you at no charge....grrr.

Just be glad that you don't live closer to BN. They just built a new one by me which is about 15 miles away, and if that is not bad enough Borders is just a mile down from them. Booklover heaven or hell, guess it depends if it is my TBR or my credit card.

Here's me wishing you not to have better luck next time. There are few real joys in this world why deny one of yours :)

The_Book_Queen said...

BL1335---

Membership accept-- welcome to the club! ;)

I know-- I guess they probably would have if I had gotten more...verbal with them, but I tried to be nice, I really did, since the ladies that helped me were nice in return, and genuinely upset that this had happened. I can live with it, I guess, especially since it's not like I'm lacking for books to read until it comes in... Now, there was this one time I was in there, last year, trying to pre-order a bunch of books that weren't due to be out for a while, and let me tell you, that was the one day where I was prepared, and very, very tempted, to jump down the clerk and manager's throats, in front of the whole store, and not even care. Now, I'm a very quiet person, I'd like to say I'm very kind too, and I don't like to yell at people because a service/product I ask for isn't perfect. I usually try to work around the problem by talking with them, not screaming profanities at them. But this one day, I came about *this* close to doing so... ARGH. I won't go into details, but the clerk had no right to work anywhere besides maybe the cafe cleaning up the table...

Moving on! Lol.

Exactly-- the days when I would love to be able to go bookshopping, I wish my B&N (or even Borders) was closer. But in the same breath, if they were, I know I'd definitely be bankrupt by now! LOL. And possibly living in the shed while the books took over all free space in my house. And I love the way you described it, 'Booklover heaven or hell, guess it depends if it is my TBR or my credit card.'-- That's about the truth of it!

Your right-- really, my 'obsession' could be for something much worse, and it is only one thing, which brings me joy on top of all that, so I shouldn't feel too guilty. ;)

Enjoy,
TBQ