I am about your age too, and I'm happy that tracking apps exist now because it means I no longer pick up an interesting looking book at a library or used bookstore and get a few dozen pages in before I realize I read it already. I guess if you purchase and keep every book you read it's easier to keep track of but I don't have the space or money for that.

I use Goodreads just to track what I read already, and sometimes add books to my to read list when someone makes a recommendation or I read a review. I ignore all the social and recommendation parts of it.

The government doesn't run those web sites or send out the checks, the company who settled or lost the class action pays through a settlement administrator who collects the entire amount and verifies the proper class members get paid. The settlement administrator creates the websites.

Mass markets have kept pace with inflation but hardcover prices are definitely lower. I just pulled two books off my shelf from 2002 and they were $26 and $28 at the time ($43-46 in 2022 dollars). Similar current titles go for $25-35.

BN was a great place to work years ago. I did 7 years in the 00s at one of the largest locations and loved that so many of my coworkers were career booksellers. It's so sad that so many of them who stuck around lost their jobs during that purge.

Interesting, I worked at Barnes & Noble for years in the early 00s and I always preferred Borders as a customer. I tried to get a job there over and over but was never able to.