Amazon V. Barnes & Noble

Generally whenever I am planning on ordering books I tend to go directly to the Amazon website and happily fill the virtual basket full of books.  I really hadn't planned on ordering anything new, but I I have been seeing so many good books on different lists that they beckoned to me to own them.  So I went to Amazon, ordered my books, selected free shipping, and then saw they were due to arrive in December.  Egads, wait until December for my books?  Sorry, I can buy them locally faster.  So I thought, what the heck, I will just pay for the shipping, as one is a gift and I need it sooner rather than later.  However, if I am going to pay nearly $9.00 for shipping I think I should get them in a week at least.  No, sorry, due to arrive around the 24th of November.  Luckily we have more than one choice, so I headed over to B&N, where not only did I get free shipping, but I got to use my discount card (yes, I have one of those---it actually is cost effective for me--scary, I know), and they ship 3 day select!  Order on Monday and have your books by Thursday.  Not too shabby.  And such great stuff...Sister Carrie by Dreiser (I tried reading An American Tragedy earlier this year, but I couldn't seem to make much progress, maybe this one will go better), Lorna Doone by Blackmore, The House of Mirth by Wharton (I have a little mass market paperback, but a nice trade edition is so much nicer), and The Way We Live Now by Trollope.  I am only waiting on a copy of The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (I think the shipping problem is due to this one--it seems to be out of stock, but even when I removed it from the basket Amazon still couldn't get my books to me quickly).  Alas, I only wish I could read them as fast as I seem to be acquiring them.  Just when is a library complete anyway?  Ever?