To be honest, I'm not a big fan of chain bookstores. First off, my cousins own a large independent bookstore in Massachusetts, and, as long as business is good for them, my big "family discount" is safe. However, beyond my personal connections, I don't really like the way that chain bookstores control access to titles, artificially control the bestseller lists, and squeeze out independent booksellers. Frankly, it just creeps me out.

That having been said, I kind of like Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS). They tend to have a good selection of bargain books, usually offer patrons some nice spaces to sit and read, and generally have a pretty broad selection. Because of this, I was a little alarmed as I watched their stock take a little tumble this week. Based on its own predictions that this year's profits will fall well short of forecasts, B&N experienced a 5% drop in value to $26.95. As of this writing, it's currently trading at $26.26.

Part of this isn't Barnes and Noble's fault. First off, without a new Harry Potter book coming out this year, every bookseller is going to have massively diminished revenues. Additionally, I imagine that book revenues will drop as many readers, facing diminished money for luxury expenditures, will rediscover the wonders of their local libraries.

Move over, Harry. Make way for Alan.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has a new best-seller perched at the top of the book list. And it has nothing to do with magic. Or wait, maybe it does.

Although only on sale since Monday, the former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan's personal memoir, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, has sat at the top of the best seller list at the world's largest online bookseller. This suggests that quite a few folks are looking for answers from the often much-admired former fed chief.

And an explanation, perhaps, for all the dark alchemy currently churning the markets.

With yesterday's larger-than-expected rate cut, what is going on in the minds of bankers, corporate spenders and avid citizen economists? Everyone, even, apparently, the man on the street, wants to read -- in easy translation -- what Greenspan really thought during his generation-long tenure at the Fed. Indeed, even the book's ominous title hints that things may never be the same again.

It's ironic that the memoirs of a man who is notorious for being oblique is now a best-seller.