Borders Books & Music

I am not much of a book reader. I read five newspapers every day as well as weekly magazines, but I've never had the patience to sit down and read a novel. However, one of my favorite experiences is when I would go to Borders Books & Music to peruse the latest book releases. I would buy a cup of coffee and find a comfortable chair and read a few chapters of a new book. I may not have purchased the book, but I usually spent about 30 minutes reading.

With the announcement this week that Ann Arbor,MI-based Borders will be shutting its doors sometime soon, I found it sad that such a store will no longer be a place that I could visit.

I normally spent a few hundred dollars on Christmas gifts at Borders. Whether it be calendars, books or music, Borders was my favorite place to shop and spend money over the holidays. Although I'm sure I'll keep buying the same items, Christmas shopping won't be the same without a Borders.

Since I don't do much book reading, I've never had any interest in e-books. Apparently, sales of electronic books have crimped sales of hardcover and paperback books so much that Borders could not compete in the marketplace.

In fact, the number of consumer books sold during 2011 is slightly less than 1.3 billion, down about 11.4 percent compared to last year. The number of e-books sold, however, is up 111 percent for the first six months of this year. I'm sorry, but even if I were a book reader, I don't think I would be an e-book buyer - no more than I like to read my daily newspaper online.

* Thank you to all of the non-profit groups and service organizations that contacted me to assist at this year's Festival in the Pines. But I still need a group with 12-15 volunteers to help sell lemondade at this year's event, which takes place Aug. 27-28 in Carson Park. The group will receive $300 for their efforts. Please contact me as soon as possible.

* By the time many of you read this editorial, it is believed that the owners of National Football League teams will agree to a long-term contract with their players. I speculated months ago that the league would not come to terms with its players until Labor Day. I'm glad it appears that I was wrong.