Book-lover's post

This is what the Borders near us will probably look like in a couple weeks. ~,~

It's really so sad. I recently learned that Borders has gone bankrupt, and plans to shut down 200 locations, or nearly a third of all their stores. !,!

On Friday, my mom dropped my siblings and me off at our Borders to hang out for a while, which we haven't done in ages. As usual, I enjoyed myself, being surrounded by books and all. Still, it was a little... strange for me to think that this particular book store, which we've been going to for years, will soon be gone in another dozen or so days.

All those books on the shelves... I wonder where they will go. I wonder what business will replace our beloved Borders...

Well, there is still Barnes and Noble. But I don't know... there was something about Borders that feels more familiar to me. I really wish it didn't have to close.

Is anyone experiencing the same situation, feeling the same "loss"?

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I don't want to leave you readers feeling depressed, so here's some good news: I finished this awesome book the other night. "Across the Universe", by Beth Revis. This is one of those rare books that I'd probably classify as one of the top ten best books I've read this year. That's right. I think I'd definitely put it up there with the likes of "The Book Thief" and "Shiver".

I first learned about this book in a review by old friends of mine, the Lateiner Gang. You can see their review here. They pretty much tell you the whole story without spoiling too much.

When I heard about it, the story kind of reminded me of "Wall*E", only without the robots. Basically, it's a sci-fi story that takes place in the future, with people taking off in a big spaceship to colonize a new planet, which is 300 years away from Earth. Certain people, like scientists, military leaders, important people, get cryogenically frozen. Then you have a couple thousand other people to run the ship and help it reach it's destination. Fast-forward a few centuries, and you have a mystery-murderer unplugging certain frozens, one of them a teenage girl. Why?

The love story is okay. It's the sci-fi stuff that was really amazing. All the people who live on the spaceship, centuries after it launches, evolve into a kind of "mono-ethnic" race. Everyone has roughly the same features and traits, so no one is different. Each person has a mini-communicator embedded inside their ear, so you can talk to anyone you want on the ship with a simple vocal command. (I know someone who'd probably think this was ultra-cool. ^_~)

Amazing story. Really compelling. Will definitely leave you thinking after you've closed the book.