Book News, In Brief

I could spare you all the misery and just stop posting these sorts of headlines, but then, poverty loves company, doesn't it? Books-A-Million is reporting their total revenue dropped 5.7% in the third quarter ending November 1. Comparable store sales tumbled 9.9%.

Police were called to a Portsmouth, NH bookstore last week regarding threats made to Frank Wilczek, an MIT physics professor and author who was scheduled to speak there. So what was so controversial about Wilczek's book, The Lightness of Being? Apparently, it "features the theme that the ancient contrast between celestial light and earthly matter has been transcended"...whatever that means.

Bookstore owners, operators, employees and all manner of assorted hangers-on: Copy this article and send it to everyone you know. It's an op-ed piece about 'the joy of giving books,' and if we can infect enough people with the ideas it offers, we might make some money this holiday season. (Editor's note to all bookstore owners, operators, employees and all manner of assorted hangers-on: Before forwarding the article, cut out the second sentence, the one that says, "I've found that if you sit down and read a large portion of a book you're not even going to buy while you sip your latte, the employees don't seem to mind." Anyone even slightly familiar with the inner workings of a bookstore knows that this couldn't be further from the truth.)