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Whither the Book Business – Barnes and Noble for Sale
The Wall Street Journal reported the other day that Barnes and Noble has put itself up for sale.
Barnes & Noble Inc., put itself up for sale Tuesday, succumbing to pressure from shareholder activists as digital books erode the traditional business of the nation’s largest bookstore chain.
The New York-based company said a falling stock prompted its board to consider all “strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.”
Read the full article here at the Wall Street Journal on-line.
This is just another book-happening that has me asking – What does this and other activity in the book world mean for me – the book reader? I like the feel and tradition of the book in my hand – whether hard cover or paper back. I’m reluctant to turn to the kindle for my “reading pleasure” although my friend Cliff assures me I’d be happy with this new technology. While I might mourn the loss of the “bookstore” – for the most part I get my books at the public library. I borrow from the vast treasures of the Merrimack Valley Consortium of libraries. Will the traditional give way or be lost to the kindle, the i-pad or the Nook? What of the authors? the writers who feed my need to read… how are they affected? While not wanting to be cast as a luddite, I hope I can continue in my traditional reading ways with lots of titles and genres to choose from… hold a book in my hand as I enjoy my back porch and glass of ice tea… just lost in the world of murder, mayhem and mystery. BTW, I’m off soon to the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell – adventures await! Support your public library!
I love the feel of a book in my hands, too, and love curling up in bed with my latest treasure. Last night it was Judith Jones’ memoir The Tenth Muse, My Life in Food, a delicious look at the life of the woman who first discovered Julia Child and became her life-long editor. Interesting stuff for foodies and historians.
My husband swears by his i-Pad for books – newspapers, too – but it’s tough to curl up with it.
Let’s hope books – real books – endure for a long, long time.
Nancye
I just had to spend a couple of hours in the Lowell General waiting room, (waiting for someone). I can’t imagine going to a place like that without bringing a book, but apparently I was the only one who felt that way. Some people stared blankly at unbelievably vapid morning shows on one of the two TV’s; some stared into space, but half of them just kept playing with their i-phones or some such devices. The kid next to me was playing some kind of video game on his hand held device, and I was thinking the same thing-whither the book business-whither books? I felt like a relic. “This is a book, boys and girls, something we used to use when I was a boy to pass the time.”