Speaking of Books

Tales From The Reading Room, one of my favorite book blogs, has a fantastic new post up entitled Reasons for Buying Books. Here's a sneak peek at a few of the reasons:

2. If you already enjoy reading then it’s important at this particular juncture of history to be evangelical about it. Numbers of young people reading are dropping fast. Half of the American population between 18-24 has never read a book. On average an American citizen reads four books a year (and those are not necessarily fiction). I couldn’t find online statistics for other countries, alas, but I’m sure they are similar. It’s essential that we promote reading as much as we possibly can as there is a genuine risk of it becoming an eccentric hobby, and as I mentioned above, there are essential personal reasons why we do it.

3. But there are also cultural reasons. Buying a book is like placing a vote for a certain way of life. Books ask us to think deeply about the reasons why we do things, they challenge us and they reflect back to us the kind of society we create for ourselves. A culture with a strong literary component is one that considers contemplation, critique and creativity essential factors in the life of its citizens. It’s a culture that is not afraid to question what it does, and that welcomes subversion as being essential to vitality and growth. It’s a culture that doesn’t want to encourage sheep-like compliance or self-centred, short-sighted demands. It’s the culture I’d like to live in.

4. It isn’t necessarily the culture we do live in, and the atrocious state of the publishing industry is testimony to that. Publishing is currently in crisis and much as that may in part be due to the industry’s own excessive expectations following the creation of all those huge multi-media companies in the 90s, we have to support it if we want it to continue, and therefore gain the benefits of a vibrant book culture. Cutbacks in publishing do not lead to only the best-written books making it onto the marketplace, as we know. Instead, frightened publishers churn out celebrity biographies and Dan Brown-alikes. So, support the industry before we lose it, or lose any chance of intervening in its future. Buy the books you would most like to see published. Buy the kind of books you would like to write, if you feel that way inclined. Buy wall-to-wall Jilly Cooper and children’s annuals, if that’s what pleases you; bestsellers make it possible for publishers to risk other types of books and maintain a diverse list.

I really enjoyed this entire post (and wholeheartedly endorse it!), so check it out. I say this not only because I happen to work in a bookstore and owe my job to those who purchase books, but also as someone who loves books and worries a lot about their future.

I myself buy books constantly, way more than I probably should. I buy them at work with my employee discount, I frequent the used bookstores in my town and I buy a lot online, too, usually at Abebooks. My apartment looks more like a library than anything else. I often think of the first time a friend of mine came to my apartment, and her opening comment was an awed "Look at all the books!" Most people just asked if I've read them all, as if they think one person can't possibly read that much.

I also make use of libraries (university and public), but now and then I end up buying a book I've checked out from the library because I loved it so much that I want my own copy. Sometimes I think I'd buy books over food if I ever had to make the choice, though hopefully it will never come to that!

My friends and family, even the readers among them, tend to think this pretty eccentric of me, but I can't help it. I value my books above pretty much everything else I own, even though they're far from being first editions that would ever be worth much in terms of monetary value. To me, though, they're a part of who I've been, who I am now, and who I'd like to be. I do sometimes sell a few that I'm certain I'll never read again, but for the most part I can't imagine parting with them.

Reading truly is increasingly seen as a less than worthy pastime, though, and that worries me so much. At the very first LGBT meeting I ever went to on my campus I was talking to this really nice guy who was the head of the university LGBT group. I mentioned working where I do and he asked me, in a voice that was suddenly full of condescension, if I liked to read.

I felt as though I'd just admitted to something that made me strange or a bit silly in his eyes, and the worst part is that his attitude is increasingly the most common one. I tend to forget that sometimes, working in an environment where most of the people I come into contact with are book lovers, too.

I personally read a wide variety of books, but I want to mention that I think it's especially important to support LGBT literary fiction. When I started working at the store where I'm employed, our Gay Fiction and our Lesbian Fiction sections filled an entire large bookcase by themselves. Granted, that wasn't a huge amount of books, but compared to the state of things at the present moment, it was a plethora of choices. By my most recent count, our gay fiction section now consists of seven titles and our lesbian fiction has about twenty titles. Together, what once filled an entire bookcase, now fills less than a full shelf, and most of what we have isn't literary fiction but genre fiction and erotica.

This isn't just our store or the company I work for, either. Independent LGBT bookstores have been folding and publishing companies are putting out fewer and fewer LGBT titles, and those they do publish tend to be erotica, mysteries, and romantic titles, rather than literary works.

So, I think it's important to speak with your wallet and purchase, as the author of Tales From The Reading Room wrote, the kinds of books you want to see published. What has been happening to LGBT fiction in recent years demonstrates how quickly publishers and stores will drop something if they don't think there's enough money in it. Before long, it could happen to books in general.