“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Cicero
The Good News department: Everywhere these days there seem to be signs that books are not just surviving, but thriving. Watchung Booksellers, my favorite local bookstore appears to be having a great summer and there are signs that independent bookstores are on the upswing. There are new online sites like Riffle that promote social reading and there’s growing support for indie books from sites like SelfPublishedAuthor.com, recently launched by Bowker. All this is so heartening!
And when you add into the mix one of the biggest book boosters of all, Oprah, you really have a recipe for optimism on the book front. After a productive morning on the novel front, I gave myself a little treat and snagged the July issue of “O,” The Oprah Magazine. Emblazoned on the front cover was the sunshiny yellow headline, “The Best Books of Summer.” Irresistible!
I popped the magazine open and was greeted by “Summer is for Book Lovers” — an absolutely gorgeous 10-page spread with mini-reviews of dozens of books and stunning artwork featuring pages of text transformed into everything from trees to an amusement park. It was a feast of words, not only for the mind, but the eye as well.
What a celebration of the joys of reading! Just strolling through the pages reminded me of warm summer days, lemonade, and literary delights. I just adore seeing readers and writers express their love of books joyously and with abandon — it’s so contagious. Just think what the world would be like if book lovers ran it. Write on!