The spell of Americana.

I don't know whether the whole Dan Brown farrago has gone to the heads of Marketing bods at the high street bookseller Waterstones, but they've gone all Americana. I was in their Liverpool One store yesterday. All glass and steel and very bright, that is apart from a banner that was proclaiming their 'Favorite Books.' Thats right, FAVORITE. Yes, we're in a book shop. One promoting reading and literature. To compound the problem, on top of a bookshelf nearby was the correct spelling. It irritated me to such an extent I had to tell someone. I don't like doing such things. I don't read The Daily Mail or write in Green Ink or live in Royal Tonbridge Wells. But it was such an error, I needed to alert someone to the glaring glitch. They didn't seem overly concerned, which worried me even more. I phoned their HQ in Brentford and I was told that all the senior managers were at the Christmas conference, so nobody could help me. That told me a lot. Perhaps they were practising their spelling. I hope so.