What I'm Reading This Week (December 15)
Quote de jour
"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is someone who gives me a book I haven't read."
~ Abraham Lincoln
The publishing industry is in the dumps. It doesn't help that one in four persons in the U.S. did not read any books last year. That's right; zero books. That boggles my mind. With hundreds of thousands of book titles published every year, there is something for everyone. Feed a mind. Buy books as Christmas gifts. And if you know anyone who has actually written a book, for God's sake go out and buy it. Most writers are starving. Okay, that's my rant of the day.
This what I've been reading this week. It's that time of the year when Hollywood is thinking about the Oscars. They heavily advertise in the trades like Variety http://www.variety.com/ flogging their films with the header: For Your Consideration. They are not by any means the best films, just the ones with the most money to spend on advertising. Sadly, some of my favorite little films, seen at film festivals never see the light of of day, never mind an Oscar glow. It takes gold to get the gold. Lot's of Oscar buzz surrounding Frost Nixon. I'm seeing it tomorrow. 
It's no surprise, ho, ho, ho, that December covers use a lot of red. Articles about Obama continue with messianic zeal. Poor guy. How can he live up to the expectations of being a super hero? The more I read, the less convinced I am about his abilities to turn this country around. It's politics as usual. 
In the book department, my two choices this week are random. I ran into the library five minutes before closing and grabbed two books off the 'new books' shelf. It's too soon to say whether my gamble paid off.
After a few weeks of serious books (I loved last week's one on Issac Newton), I felt like some fluffy fiction. The titles grabbed me: Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen and The Ex-débutante by Linda Francis Lee.
Well, yes, the pub industry is in the dumps. But remember that 200,000 books got published each year for the last god knows how many years.
Not that people bought many.
In the 80s, only 100,000 books were published each year in the US.
In the 50s and 60s, far fewer than that, mostly Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner and Harper Lee.
Was darn nigh impossible back in the day to get published.
Also, in the 50s, 60s, nd 70s, only 1 percent of the population even went into a bookstore MORE than ONCE a year to buy a book.
By the 80s, that number rose to a whopping 5 percent.
So, all is bad but not as bad as it could be.
Or will get.
For the first time, it is true, the online e-book industry is cutting into the profits.
But houses will cut back and readers will eventually buy books again, but not at the clip that could sustain 200,000 books a year.
But many books are just plain BORING, BAD writing. Not worth buying or reading, anyway.
Still, many books that are GREAT and talented are not being bought, and not being read.
Cheers!
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Thanks for the reality check.
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I was going to say that you looked so adorable and gorgeous in your hiking gear!
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Layla, great article. As a person who has always been an avid reader, I can't understand anyone not wanting to read a book. One can get lost in a good book and many are such great teachers. There is something out there for every one. I always give books for presents. Maybe there are saying "Oh no, Judi's gift, must be another book" LOL
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