Reading culture at the CityLit Festival
With all of yesterday's news, I didn't get to update everyone on the weekend CityLit panel on book culture. We discussed topics from e-books to teenage boys, and got a lot of interesting comments from the audience. Thanks to all those who attended. Some select thoughts from panel members:
Natalie Stokes, associate publisher of Baltimore-based Black Classic Press, worries about the impact of e-books on specialty bookstores that focus on African-American works. She also noted that major bookstores often relegate African-American books to a couple of shelves, which might as well say "For Colored Only." Even in that limited space, urban fiction is crowding out the weightier books.
David Kipen, who runs The Big Read program for the National Endowment for the Arts, said survey data on reading give cause for optimism. Stephenie Meyer's popular vampire novels may be a "gateway drug" for girls, leading to more challenging books. Getting teenage boys to read is still a huge problem, but The Big Read has responded by including books -- The Maltese Falcon, for example -- that appeal to them.
Deirdre Donahue, book critic for USA Today, also was optimistic about the future of books, and noted that she often reads in audio and e-book formats. I liked her subversive thought that parents today encourage reading too much. She recalled that her mother was a solid nonfiction reader, and thought novels frivolous. Because fiction was off-limits to Deirdre, it was actually more appealing and helped kindle her rebellious love of books.
Comments
I regret that Amazon has hurt bookstores, but I am an unapologetic Amazon
junkie. When I can get all the books and CDs that I want at discount prices
with free shipping, why shouldn't I take advantage of it?
As far as browsing for books in libraries... I live in Eldersburg. Take a
field trip to our library and see what passes for new fiction shelves. It's
pathetic. When I want a library book, I go on line and request it from
another branch.
If you want to see a thriving book culture, if you want to know where I go
to discuss books and to get recommendations, go to www.GoodReads.com.
You'll find passionate readers from all over the world discussing every
genre of books. I belong to groups that choose one or two books to read and discuss per month, sometimes with the participation of the authors. But that doesn't stop us from discussing any other books that happen to take our fancies. One of my groups, in addition to the books of the month, currently has groups within the group reading "War and Peace," and books about the Middle East, and books set in countries all around the world. We have also adopted a charity that distributes books to children, and our moderator is collecting our contributions and sending them out monthly.
Posted by: Marsha | April 21, 2009 8:55 AM
Your CitiLit Festival panel discussion about the changing book culture was terrific. It was good to meet you.
A thought (I hope not too frivolous) to ponder in the aftermath of the festival:
Will there come a time when a savvy E-book publisher establishes a publishing domain that functions like a www.Google.com search engine?
If so, authors might be inclined to write novels, poems, and short stories with the sole intent of having key words within their content being picked by search engines, thereby, marketing their work completely in cyberspace.
If this were to happen, we could see the end of creativity as we now know it.
Posted by: Mel Tansill | April 21, 2009 8:57 AM
I enjoyed Saturday's discussion on books and technology and thought you might want to read this article from the Wall Street Journal on a similar topic.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html
Posted by: Diane Scharper | April 21, 2009 9:04 AM
hi dave, i really enjoyed being on the panel - thanks for the invitation. i also found the questions from the audience very provocative. cheers
Posted by: deirdre donahue | April 21, 2009 10:56 AM
You probably get this a lot, but where, in the city, do I buy new books from a place that isn't Barnes & Noble? I'd like to support a locally owned bookstore (and, importantly, one that has a wide and deep selection) but increasingly, I go to Amazon. Thanks for any suggestions.
Also, the CityLit festival was great. It energized me.
Posted by: Mount Vernon | April 21, 2009 11:07 AM
Mount Vernon, although competition is tough, many indies are holding on. Biggish stores include Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley and Daedelus, a discounter, in Belvedere Square. Other favorites include The Ivy Bookshop and The Children's Bookstore in Baltimore, and Ukazoo (Towson) and Constellation (Reisterstown) in the burbs. Hampden has several small shops, including Breathe Books and Atomic Books.
For more suggestions and store profiles check out the "Bookstore" category on the right rail of Read Street's homepage.
Posted by: Dave | April 21, 2009 12:08 PM
Dave, thanks for the panel summary. Diane, thank you for the link to the Wall Street Journal article. I enjoyed it. It's interesting that while the WSJ was writing about the NEW book culture, the NYT was writing about the OLD one. In the Sunday Book Review, see "Scrolling Down the Ages." The article talks about the ancient Roman literary culture and its similarities (believe it or not!) to the book culture of today. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/books/review/Beard-t.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | April 21, 2009 1:23 PM
Hey Mount Vernon,
Add this new indy bookstore in Baltimore to your repertoire.
The new store is called "Cyclops" - it's in the old Family Dollar/Rite Aid part of the legendary North Avenue Market at the Northeast corner of North and Maryland, catty-corner from Joe Squared.
I think it opens this weekend with a big North Ave. area festival.
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon | April 23, 2009 9:39 AM