u/Mysterious-Earth4450

I had been applying to Barnes and Noble for 6 years, because as a reader, who doesn't want to work at a cozy bookstore and chat about books?

But then I got the job and realized, it was just a job. They don't even care about the books, just the business aspects. You want to bring in money? Cool, but there are better ways to do it. But because you're forcing us to sell books no one cares about and trying to get people to buy a $40 membership no one wants, we’re not getting any of the sales the company wants, so hours have to be cut. Hours get cut and stores become understaffed, managers get flacked because receiving isn't done or the store looks like ass. What is the point in all of this?

And it's crazy because he's opening new stores when he could be using that money to fix the website or make Bookmaster more accessible, so booksellers don't have to walk all over the store to get to a computer.

AND PLEASE TURN THOSE DAMN LIGHTS DOWN. EVERYONE IS GETTING A HEADACHE.

I'm just complaining, idk.

I've been in a bit of a dilemma for about a year now. I am yearning for someone, and I don't want to be in this situation.

Before y'all start saying how love isn't everything, I should find a purpose, love myself, and find comfort in being by myself. I just want to let y'all know, I've never been in a relationship or even considered settling for the first guy that approaches me, (as if that happens often.) And I have hobbies, and we won't talk about friends because that's a different topic for a different day. I have dreams and goals, and even a job. But every day, and every night, I think about them. And I've tried not to, I've tried to forget about them and it always comes back. I want him so bad, it's driving me insane.

If you've been in a similar situation or even once wanted romantic love but learned to detach. Can you tell me how you did it? I don't want to feel anymore.

I am writing a screenplay. And I have been really hesitant about finishing it because of the subject matter. It's horror.

To not give too much of it away, it's about people doing experiments on black women. Yes, I am a black woman, and that's why I sort of have mix feeling about it.

What are some of your favorite classic books you have read?

I am curating a list of 100 classic and modern classic books to read before I die. I want recs from all over the world.

Some of the books I've already read:

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Dang, I'm also in a huge reading slump.

It's not about books anymore, but about numbers. When people from other stores come to our store, they basically shit on us for not selling as much as they do, when it might just be the people. Someone from another store said “You can talk to 10 people about OMPs and get maybe 5 nos,” but then they don't even sell one at our store.

And it seems like the higher-ups don't know who their customers are or what the people like or even kids. July’s Young Readers’ monthly pick is about a girl who is trying to find her father, during the American Revolution, while there's a smallpox outbreak happening. You know how many times parents have told me no because the books would be too much or too sad?

And why is it only these genres? The 2 most popular genres at my store are Self-Help and Romance.

I don't know. I just don't know.