Publishers Weekly reports that total bookstore sales have taken a 1.0% dip in January — this, as retail as a whole rose 4.0%. The question, and perhaps this is something that booksellers might answer here, is whether or not this represents a definitive death knell. Do people feel less inclined to purchase books in January because they are too busy reading the books they received for Christmas?
Nick Hornby goes YA. The book will tell the tale of a young boy terrified of saying anything even remotely bad against the books he reads and chronicles his transformation from a writer of promise to a dull and uninteresting person.
I try to keep my literary ecstasy at a minimum here, reserving my praise for titles that truly deserve it. But Lionel Shriver’s The Post-Birthday World is most definitely worth your time. It may just be my favorite book of 2007 (so far). I’m afraid that I was slow on the draw trying to line up an outlet where I could set forth my thoughts on this ambitious and extremely interesting novel at length, outlining the book’s pitch-perfect observations about relationships and its fascinating riffs upon life choices. Thankfully, Heller McAlpin offers a few reasons why. While I may not get my two hours back from Sliding Doors, I’m very glad that Shriver’s book has made up for that cinematic atrocity.
Didn’t know if you had seen this…..Poddy Mouth has called it a day.
http://girlondemand.blogspot.com/
Francine’s prose is a big yawn. Hopefully her PEN work will be better.