The Borders disappointment

One of my rekindled loves in the past year has been that of reading. It all started last year - I was no longer teaching full time, which gave me extra free time to play around with. Because I was also taking master's classes at UIC, I had access to the university library and the ability to borrow books at will.

This year, because I have less housework to do (thanks Xuemei!), I still have free time to spend with some books. I brought a few books with me but finished them all by Christmas. [if you want to know more, I update a page on the book network site Goodreads every now and then with what I have been reading]

Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of English bookstores in Chengdu. Thankfully, I got Hot, Flat, and Crowded (which I just started) from my sister Sharon for Christmas, and we picked up a few more books in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the holidays.

But the Borders in Kuala Lumpur has been in my sights for awhile now. Touted as the largest in the world, I drooled at the thought of all those books waiting for me.

That's where the story turns.

First, we don't even step foot in the door for a day and a half, leaving us less time to browse.

Then, they don't have the 1 book that Rachel REALLY wanted. (The Ayatollah Begs to Differ)

The book I REALLY wanted was ordered by Rachel on Amazon, and is on its way back to Chengdu thanks to Jenny, our trans-pacific pack mule. So I didn't need to buy it there. (In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto)

I wanted the February National Geographic, but it wasn't out yet. (on Feb 2?)

After 30 minutes of browsing, I picked up 3 books I liked. One of them was expensive, and I know the library at church has it (Heaven by Randy Alcorn). Another looked good, but Rachel told me the school library has it (Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded). The third was a popular science book that would be good as a teacher reference, but not something I wanted to buy with my own money.

So in the end - Total number of items purchased in the bookstore: 0. Number of items purchased in the bookstore coffee shop: 1.

And to put an exclamation point on the Borders disappointment, we happened upon another bookstore in another mall, run by a Japanese company. I didn't look at the prices, but the selection was way better...

Oh well. I've got plenty to read. And really, we were out of spending money anyway :)
So maybe it was a good thing!

Now, off to bed. School's back in session tomorrow!

-alan