Barnes and Noble is a great place to spend an afternoon. I was a huge fan of the old Borders on University before it closed. When that store left Madison I transitioned to Barnes and Noble. Even though I buy books from Amazon for my Kindle nothing beats actual books you can hold in your hand. Some books I do not want on my Kindle, like cookbooks. This gives me a lovely excuse to go troll the shelves and see what is new. I can get lost in this huge store, but I don't care. Sometimes it can be hard to find help when you need it. That being said, the store more than makes up for that in atmosphere.