There used to be a Barnes & Noble on Route 18 in what is now the Pearle Vision shopping center in East Brunswick, and when I was young, my parents occasionally brought me there to pick out a book. I can remember, probably around the time when I was in fourth grade or so, rushing there to pick up the newest release in Ann M. Martin’s Babysitter Club series. I just had to find out what was going to happen next in the lives of Kristi, Mary Anne, and the other girls I had been reading and reading so much about. (Ann M. Martin is a Jersey girl, by the way. She grew up in Princeton.)
It was hard to put into words back then, but I just loved being in the store, being surrounded by so many books – bright, shiny, new books. At the time, most of the books in the store were well beyond my reading level, but I didn’t care. I soaked it all in each time we visited the store.
That location has long since been closed, and since then, many more have actually popped up in the area (including another one in East Brunswick at the Brunswick Square Mall). This one in North Brunswick, however, is probably one of my favorites. I like the layout of the store; I usually find what I’m looking for and quiet a place to sit; the employees are friendly. I go there sometimes, just to think and to try to recapture that same feeling that I remembered from when I was young – that feeling of being in awe and amazement when surrounded by so many bright, shiny, new books. Today, with many more books within my level of understanding, and many more to choose from all the time, it’s certainly a great place to go for inspiration and idea generating.
Oh, and those treats in the Starbucks cafe, they aren’t bad either. 🙂
~Melissa
The Jersey Girl
The Jersey Girl 