Are publishers just eternal optimists? Continually self-deluded? Or–could print be alive and well after all?
Apparently, sales of books—actual books, those things printed on paper, bound with glue, and sold in stores—have been up this holiday season. U. P. UP. Reports the New York Times:
Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookstore chain, said that comparable store sales this Thanksgiving weekend increased 10.9 percent from that period last year. The American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independents, said last week that members saw a sales jump of 16 percent in the week including Thanksgiving, compared with the same period a year ago.
The major sellers? Mostly nonfiction, including the recent Steve Jobs biography and a variety of memoirs. But the Times also cites some fiction bestsellers, such as Murakami’s hefty 1Q84 and The Angel Esmerelda, a short story collection (!) by Don DeLillo.
Could this be a sign that (paper) books aren’t dead yet? And tell us: are you giving any books for the holidays this year?
