The finance world was stunned on Tuesday to learn that Barnes & Noble, which owns 720 bookstores in the U.S., was considering selling the company.
Nooks, B&N's electronic readers, were shaken to the core by the announcement. "Who knows what this means for our future?" Nora Nook was quoted as saying. "That is, if we have any future at all."
Nooks are receiving comfort from an unlikely source. Kindles, Amazon's electronic readers, are keeping the Nooks calm by urging them to take each day as it comes. Once bitter rivals, Nooks and Kindles have bonded since Apple iPads came on the scene in April. iPads can serve as electronic readers, but they can do lots of other things as well, a fact that they keep lording over one-function devices like Kindles and Nooks. "We've had our problems with Nooks in the past," Head Kindle Hedda has stated, continuing, "but when there is trouble brewing, we just have to stick together. These are quality devices, unlike the iPads, which are gabby, uppity, overpriced, conceited upstarts."
Also, the Kindles have urged Nooks to focus on the fact that Leonard Riggio, B&N founder and its biggest investor, has indicated that HE may be an interested buyer of the chain. A positive sign, for sure.
Hmm. Could there be some kind of Kindle-Nook merger on the horizon? Stranger things have happened.
Stay tuned.
Gail Farrelly is the author of three mystery novels. The latest is "Creamed at Commencement: A Graduation Mystery." One of her short stories is published online: "Get Yourself a Face" (about a Mafia princess who buys herself a face transplant and a lot of trouble). Her story "Even Steven" was a finalist in the 2007 Derringer Award competition.
