Books-A-Million

This bookstore is different than Barnes and Noble. The selection seem different and there is a better selection of stuff which are not books but seem to match or support the books.
I like the selection of card and board games. I do not know if the staff is knowledgeable about the games.
The selection of foreign language learning books is OK. It used to be better.

I give them two stars just for now. They were located down near Panera, but moved temporarily down near Yard House into a small, barren glorified closet-​sized space. They will be moving into the unit formerly occupied by the bowling alley. They are a few months behind schedule, so they remain beached in this little locale. My issue with them is the quantity of religious material. If that is what I wanted, I would go to a Christian Bookstore. So, I will give them a change one they migrate to their new digs, but if they continue to stock so much religious merchandise, I will stay loyal and true to Barnes and Noble.

As with any bookstore, the first thing I did was search out the philosophy section. I generally don’t find anything to buy, but I use this section as a litmus test for the quality of the store. At BAM (I do like that acronym) the philosophy section was rather pitiful, comprised entirely of pop philosophy books, and, to my great dismay, dwarfed in size by the bible covers section, which filled one side of an entire row of shelves. Yet, as decisive as this early evaluation seemed to be, as I perused the store I was continually impressed by its other aspects. To start with, it is fairly large, even for a corporate bookstore. They do have an amazing selection of magazines, as one reviewer pointed out, that runs the complete length of the store. Their selection of titles in their various sections is generally very good, particularly in fiction. When I went, they also had a huge amount of bargain priced books, which I always appreciate. I was able to find a number of books that I had been looking for, as well as discovering a couple of new titles to fill out my wishlist. Their prices on most books is exactly the same as you would find at a place like Bones & Narble, so really what distinguishes them is the selection. Personally, I prefer to look at used bookshops instead, but I would come back to BAM for those hard to find texts.

Any bookstore that shortens it’s name to BAM!, is good in my book (get it, ‘book’?!) But it’s mostly because that’s how I feel about books all the time. I would read and make puns all day if I could… sigh.
Books-​A-​Million has a great selection, and it seems to be bigger, or at least the same size, as many of the Barnes and Nobles in the area. Maybe that’s because it is all one level, and not two like B&Ns usually are. ANYWAY, as Jennifer was saying, they have a great magazine selection and I always see people in there sitting on the chairs and browsing.
I’ve come here to find a novel to read, a book on dog training, and just to browse. I always end up finding something to buy– but I don’t know if that’s just from my addiction to books or if they have great deals (probably a mixture of the two). Their clearance section in the back of the store by the bathrooms is great as well. They don’t have a lot of fiction back there, but there are usually a lot of historical, biblical, and cooking items, as well as anything else non-​fiction.
This is definitely my favorite bookstore in the KC area so far.

When I say that I am a total magazine addict, I am not even slightly exaggerating. I subscribe to most of my favorites, but I love to check out foreign versions of Vogue, Elle… etc. I also love art, photo, travel and interior design magazines. Having said that, I approached the new Books-​A-​Million with a very critical eye. I have to say I was quite impressed. The entire store length is one magazine rack! They didn’t even try and «kid friendly» it up by taking the Playboys away… how refreshing. There is also a coffee and smoothie bar.
I had a small meltdown when they took forever to get in the new Air-​brush Action magazine, but fortunately they still let me in the store.