Posted on 01/23/2008 7:30:42 PM PST by forkinsocket
I did not know that. Cool. I know Ms. Rice is a runner, though.
Reading is one of life’s pleasures.
Just not the gifts needed by a President. Which I suppose Condi understands, and is part of the reason she would never run for President.
There many ways to be gifted.
Those selections look interesting and scholarly. Personally, I do like the heavy stuff for learning about other places, people and times. But to relax and have a great time, give me Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Never knew anyone could have so many vehicles destroyed, encounter so many wackos, and get into so many jams. But I can also totally relate to it all, and after laughing out loud over an hour or two, I’m relaxed and able to sleep soundly. And laughing out loud is good for our health.
“I sometimes use a magnifying glass to get a closer look at the bookcases pictured in magazines.”
Why use a magnifying glass? Next time you are watching a movie and are bored by what is on the screen, start looking at the books on the bookshelf in the scene.
I spotted a copy of Zotz! (later adapted by William Castle) in an Ed Wood film and a thick book on Windsor McCay in one of the 1990s Woody Allen films.
I liked Condi a lot until she started falling all over herself to be seen as sympathetic to Islam.
I’ve turned to electronic books. The instant gratification of being able to download them and not have to go to the store is a serious plus for me.
:-)
I’m currently working through David Weber’s Honor Harrington series.
As for Condi... (sigh)
Industry is very short sighted. They want instant results. I buy books from Half Price Books which USED to be a used bookstore chain but now consists mostly of remaindered books that have come out within the last 9 months. How do so many books (unscuffed) get DUMPED on the market?
Why would I pay $75 for a book that I'll find for $24.99 NEW within a year?
Why pay $24.95 for a book that will be $9.98 within a year? $12.48 within the first month if someone turns in a used copy (or publisher review copy)?
Borders/Barnes&Noble/Bookstop/et al all stock the same books. Bookstop was a great bookstore chain 20 years ago.
I have to go to independent bookstores these days to find much of anything. I can find something in the big stores but what I'd rather have isn't shelved.
Amazon and the other dot coms just do what ANY big box can do, order a book from the books in print list. Amazon doesn't stock every book they list. They can GET it but they don't have them.
I prefer to thumb through it before I buy too.
But back to the industry. Book sales are down. So are newspaper circulation figures. So are charting music album sales. So are ticket sales for big Hollywood films. So are ratings for the nightly news.
The industries got old. People are still here. We are diversified from the mainstream.
reading is fundi
mental
I left my stuff - including my book collection - with my husband the summer before we got married. One of hid friends told me that he (the friend) was unsure what I’d be like - until he came over and saw the bookshelves I’d left and realized he was going to get along fine with me.
That’s what a person’s collection should do, as well as providing hours of enjoyment. It should tell people who you are without you having to open your mouth.
I devour books whole... gulp them down in massive batches. Our house is full to bursting of books and I want more...
Last 8 years, heck I’ve been seeing the doomsday cries about people not reading since Nixon was in the White House.
The fact is that people have a lot of options for entertainment in this world, and reading is one that requires the most commitment of time and emotional involvement. So it’s not going to be really high on the mass appeal list because the masses are generally looking for casual attachment to their entertainment. They want to watch a show for an hour, or a game for 3, or play a CD for 1, or noodle around with a video game for 2, and then move on.
Now Americans have gotten a little more patient with their entertainment lately, the biggest sign being the rise of the arc TV show and the fall of the episodic show. But they still like it in clean hour increments that they can walk away from for a week.
The good news is though that it really doesn’t matter. There’s 300 million of us, so even if only 10% of us read (which is smaller than most of the estimates I see) that’s still a target audience of 30 million people, which is a pretty big audience and a lot of money.
That is an excellent point. My local used bookstore has a pretty nice little website. Not only can I walk there in 10 minutes but I can check their stock in about 10 seconds. Their competition about three blocks away has added a Guiness tap. Life is good. ;-)
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