November 13, 2026
Last Wednesday I visited Barnes & Noble at Desert Ridge in Paradise Valley for two reasons: one is I wanted to buy the new book The Rush: California Gold, The Civil War, and The Making of the Modern World, by Nathaniel Philbrick, and, two, I didn't want to order it on Amazon. I wanted to support an actual bookstore. Well, it turns out, I wasn't alone. The place wasn't packed, but it was humming with a strange new breed of cats: Millenials! Yes, youngsters were all over the store and coming in the door all the time. Now granted, it was Veteran's Day and I assume school was out and the kids were all over the mall (it is an old school, outdoor mall). But they kept coming in, in packs, so, I finally felt like I had to take a photo or no one would believe me.
Actual teenagers in an actual bookstore!Granted, these youngsters are in the Anime section, but I swear they were all over the store.
Turns out Millenials and Gen-Zers are driving a bookstore boom. Barnes & Noble has added 55 new stores in the past year and apparently there is this "Post-pandemic nostalgia" and "digital fatigue" and a longing for "tangible ownership" of actual books. Wow. Did we ever need this news!
And, for the record here is the rack placement of a certain magazine in that very same store.
Oh, and I couldn't find the Rush book and when I finally checked in with the concierge he told me it is sold out and they are awaiting a new shipment. I have never left a story so empty-handed and yet so happy.
"It's always darkest just before the dawn."
—Old Vaquero Saying
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