Dave:
I want to thank you for your tips and inspiration on bookstores. I was always put off in the past by the quiet environment, which made me feel I'd stand out like a sore thumb if I attempted a cold-approach, but actually I now find it's a great setting, it just requires a little finesse and adjustment. If you have time to kill, you can take it at a relaxed pace... every few minutes someone new comes into the store, so even if it is never busy as such, there is quite a nice turnover of appetizing ladies

))
Sunday I went to Barnes & Noble, around noon, as you suggested. I already typed up a journal of the visit in a PM to another user, so I will copy-paste:
- AngelicBeliever
In Starbucks next to Barnes & Noble, I see a truly beautiful young lady heading toward me in a navy blue overcoat, and move aside to let her pass. She acknowledges this with a polite, modest nod and a brief look (not a smile) and heads to the bookstore. When I'm done I head there too. I browse the books and hang around for a good 20 minutes to try to get the right angle without other people interfering. A bookstore is a very quiet environment and it would be easy to mess this up... typical of my overly-cautious approach manner, but I'm learning.
She is browsing the "Christian Fiction" and "Christian Life" sections... since I am intellectually an atheist and not particularly interested in religion, I thought this would be a nice challenge
We'll call her AngelicBeliever! She has the most delightful blond hair, possibly colored, but done perfectly, and braided at the back into a plait halfway down her back—long, thick and luscious. Her face is ultra-cute too. She's about 20. Really special.
She sees me in her peripherals a few times, I think, but I don't get a solid invitation as such. Then eventually I round a corner past a shelf, and there before me stands AngelicBeliever! I have to move aside to let her pass again, and I see recognition in her gaze as she meets my eye briefly... the trace of a smile. I wait for her to pass, then as she actually has her back to me but is very close by, I open:
- Marty: You have beautiful hair!
"Genuine interest" at its most literal... I'd been fawning over that blond hair for the past 20 minutes, so it wasn't as if I was being insincere. The words are spoken firmly and directly to her back. She turns around immediately and smiles broadly. (I go weak at the knees!)
- Marty: ...and a nice smile too. What's your name?
AngelicBeliever introduces herself and takes my hand. We have a good conversation. She likes me. Unfortunately she is only passing through town, connecting from out-of-state through our airport, before meeting a friend very shortly to drive together to our state's most prestigious university, which for some reason is in a town 2 hours away from the state's capital and only significant city. I tell her it's a pity, as I'd have liked to get to know her better over a coffee, but it is not to be 
I'm sure I could have handled that better, but nonetheless, it's moments like this that make me realize I have come to LOVE hitting on cute girls. I mean, irrespective of outcome. I just actually like the process.
Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble again, but this time my interaction was a little unusual. I hung out for a little bit waiting to see what that "turnover" I described above might deliver me

but since it was a business day, I couldn't stick around for too long. There was one girl who was of above average attractiveness; certainly not a stunner like AngelicBeliever, but sorta cute. I'll call her HighStrungHoney.
- HighStrungHoney
She was generally looking lost, piling up book after book in her hands, and glancing over at me on a good 5-6 occasions, making eye contact. Despite this, I initially wrote her off—the thing was, she was not very tall, maybe 5'0", and since she was evidently pretty young, I couldn't be totally sure she was actually over 18. I didn't see any parents around, but that doesn't mean a thing—I remember I was pretty independent as a teenager, and the last thing I want is some unnecessary mix-up over a girl's majority. Nonetheless, my worries proved totally unfounded.
As I was hanging around hoping someone else of interest would come in, HighStrungHoney actually opened me! I had a shopping basket slung over my arm (my usual tactic when I'm loitering in a store in pursuit of women, and don't want the sales staff to get irritable), and she asked me about it...
- HighStrungHoney: Excuse me! Do you know where I can get a basket like that, please?
Marty: Ah! Well, you seem much more in need of this one than I am. Why don't you take it? You're gonna need a truck for all those books!
She smiles and attempts to take it from me, but ever the gentleman, I hold it out for her with the handles spread to make it easy for her to load in the books.
- Marty: Allow me to hold it for you while you put your books in, then it's all yours!
HighStrungHoney: Thank you!
Marty: What's your name?
HighStrungHoney: (almost inaudible) HighStrungHoney.
Marty: You look very young... how old are you?
HighStrungHoney: (barely above a whisper) 19.
Marty: Nineteen?
HighStrungHoney: Yes.
There, you see? Quit worrying, Marty. She's old enough to take care of herself. More or less 
Marty: You have a pretty smile.
HighStrungHoney: Thank you!
Marty: My name's Marty.
She takes my hand, smiles again, then accepts the basket from me. She flees in terror—well, that's an exaggeration, but I've never seen such a timid girl. I wasn't like that at that age, was I? Can't really remember. Anyway, she smiles yet again, backs off, and rounds the shelves to a safe distance.
Newly emboldened, however, I come up beside her, and in the gentlest, most reassuring voice I can possibly muster, I ask:
Marty: HighStrungHoney, are you studying?
HighStrungHoney: Yes.
Marty: Are those academic books?
HighStrungHoney: (flustered for some reason) Well... no.
Marty: So what do you study? And which university are you attending?
She's doing International Affairs and with some prodding, she tells me a little bit about where she's traveled, her favorite parts of Europe, what she likes about the course and so forth.
It turns out that, just like AngelicBeliever, she's at the prestigious state university that's two hours out of town. However, she has a couple more days in the big city 
But she's trembling all over, like a leaf. She's theoretically an adult but seems so at sea in the big wide world, I can't bring myself to ask her out. It somehow doesn't seem "real".
That last one... I know that if she'd been a confident, sassy, even bitchy 19-year-old who had gotten tired of collecting orbiters in school and was longing to meet a proper man, I'd have thrown myself into it heart and soul... and probably been eaten alive in the process. But this one... poor girl, I don't think she even realized I was hitting on her.
Those two interactions weren't worthy of Field Reports in themselves, Dave, as I didn't push them far enough, but I thought I'd illustrate how helpful your bookstore tips have been!
-Marty