It’s a different feeling when you return a book to a library as oppose to a bookstore. When returning books to a library, it’s more like you tried them out, took a chance to see if you were interested in them or not. When you return a book to a bookstore, however, it’s as if there was something wrong with it, something that convinced you not to keep it.
Of course, when you return a book that you’ve purchased, it means that the book wasn’t worth the value you paid for it. You had spent a decent amount of time and energy to drive to the bookstore, to leaf through the pages, and bring it to the cashier to buy it. In keeping the book, it means it had some value, whether it was for enjoyment, or if it had some educational/informational value.
But to reach the point where you decided to return a book, it means that you no longer have any intention of reading it. It’s as if the book bored you to tears, or was so difficult to get through that it wasn’t worth the time or money you put in to buying it.
When returning books to the library, it’s not so bad, since you probably checked out a bunch of books to read. But if there’s a book in that pile that’s worth reading, a book that brought tremendous value to you, then returning it is a sad goodbye. You wish you could keep it instead.
In fact, you might drive to the bookstore afterwards to buy it, or at least, order it online. When a book has that kind of effect on you, you know that some books will stay with you forever.
Fallton Havenstonne 