Finally Went Inside That Fancy Burns & Noble
Kept staring at it forever… finally went inside and wow, the inside was gorgeous too. I might become a bookstore regular now.
I finally went to that Burns & Noble on Milwaukee Avenue I’d been curious about forever. I went because I’ve been debating whether I should start “The Artist’s Way” again, and I wanted to buy the book. The first time I completed it in Japanese, but at the end of the translated version, the translator casually wrote, “We cut out some parts from the original during translation.” Uh—what!? You can just… cut parts out!? Does that mean I didn’t actually complete it!? I was so disappointed that I decided, okay, next time I’ll definitely do it in English. And I figured I should at least buy the book so I can start whenever I feel like it.
I totally forgot to take a photo of the building exterior, but Chicago people will know it for sure! It used to be a Walgreens, but for a pharmacy it was weirdly majestic-looking. Originally built in 1919 as the Noel State Bank building, and before Walgreens moved in in 2012, it kept switching between different banks apparently.
When I lived in New York, I used to drop into Burns & Noble to kill time—like between classes or before meeting someone—and sip tea or browse books. But in Chicago, I don’t really see them much, so it’s been a long time since I visited one. And wow, bookstores are still so fun! Seeing shelves lined with colorful covers is such a treat, and this store even had a manga section with popular Japanese titles. There was also a Wicked corner, a Harry Potter corner, even LEGO—basically designed to attack my curiosity and shopping urges from every possible angle.
And when I went up the escalator to the second floor and saw the whole layout of the store—the ceiling design, the skylight, the retro lights hanging down—it felt so nice. I just came because it’s close to home, but now I’m like, “Wait, this is such a luxurious space for picking books!” And now I definitely want to go again.