The Bookstore

The other day we had a field trip to a major publishing house located here in Manhattan, the famous Simons & Schuster for our book publishing class.

I didn't know what to expect. I know I love books so much and bookstores are my favorite place to go. I don't know how to explain but there is this magical feeling about them. To me it will always be as if the books appeared there by some magic spell or something. How they convert thoughts to words, to sentences, to full books... So many titles, so many opinions in one place. From all over the world. It's a place where different religions can coexist in peace. All in harmony, all in silence. If this isn't magic, I don't know what it is. 

I sure was excited about the field trip but to be honest I was afraid that meeting the business side of it would take away all the magic and mystery behind my favorite place. You know how most business are, behind the curtains is all about numbers, numbers, numbers... So I took a deep breath and headed to meet my classmates and professor that cold Friday. 

As soon as I spotted the building my jaw dropped. OMG, how can they actually own an entire building with the freaking business of online books and magazines taking over the good and old paper?!!?? Apparently yes. I was amazed.

Going through those doors and sitting at the conference table was extremely exciting! Seriously. I've seen those cool meetings in several movies and I've always wondered if one day I would be a part of one. I am not that kind of person, who enjoys business and stuff, but I like the cool part of it, looking important and dressing up in the morning. So "Confessions of a Shopaholic"...

Anyway, we were able to meet some of the employees who have been working there for years. No, seriously, YEARS! Like a decade! Which was an amazing thing to see, I'm sure they are great employees who love their jobs, otherwise they wouldn't be there.

Anyway, we heard about their experiences and how the business side if it works and to be honest, I wasn't disappointed at all. I was mesmerized. Right there, in the middle of the greatest city in the world I was learning more and more about books, taught by people who not only do that for a living, but love what they do. They love books and they are there because they fell in love with them. Magic. Right there!

We finished our visit with some free books and funny enough, I caught the one that couldn't have been more cliche, "The Bookstore" by Deborah Meyler, a British author. And I can't wait to start reading it.