wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Nothing can replace the experience of shopping in a bookstore. You wander in, not knowing what you might find, and something catches your eye. Or the bookseller, or another customer, will suggest something. You strike up a conversation, maybe even a friendship. You come back to the store not just for the books, but for the community. When you see the bookseller around the neighborhood, you chat about local events and beloved books.

When you buy online, yes, you get what you wanted--MAYBE in the condition you'd hoped for, maybe not, depending on how honest and careful the seller is--and that's it. No serendipity, no personal contact, no feeling of connection with your hometown.

Please don't write off bookstores as a thing of the past. A new organization, IBNYC--Independent Booksellers of New York City--is dedicated to our growing (YES, GROWING!) numbers. BOOKSTORES ARE HERE TO STAY!

The last caller talking about his college students lack of information literacy skills and poor selection motives further stresses the need for increased budgeting for school and public libraries with professional staffing. Mr. Lopate made a final comment that budget cuts are sad... is that all they are with regards to libraries? Look to the more literate and academically advanced countries which treasure these institutions, and which were a significant part of our development as a nation. Notice the difference? Libraries have it all and are available to everyone.

The Manhattan branch libraries seem mid-way toward a shift to having users access books solely through the Internet. In many ways this is wonderful--it is possible to have any book, dvd or cd in circulation delivered to a local branch. It is still possible but cumbersome to request titles from librarians. Eventually, many if not most of the NYPL's holdings will be available online. However, during this transitional period, those without familiarity with or access to the Internet are mostly limited to books on the shelves in their local library. Even for the Internet adept, the spontaneity of discovering unfamiliar writers has mostly been lost. The stacks selection is often meager and seemingly arbitrary, concentrated on the most popular, ephemeral choices, with a small number of "serious" volumes by contemporary writers thrown into the mix. It is unlikely that a browser will come upon the complete works of any author, and most often not even a single example of an important writer's work will be held by a neighborhood branch.

I started reading again last year because TV is sooo bad and had mention that to a friend who encouraged me by offering me The Kite Runner....I'm hooked now. NPR has offered suggestions for books, one of which I just finished The man who loved China, was excellant.
Reading Kite Runner gave me an excellant view of the war. Also my favorate book is Three cups of Tea.

I teach high school English and I am always looking for literature to interest my students. My plan is to read NYTimes Book Review, listen to you on podcast (you are on when I'm in class) and find those books in the library. Then I read Mortimer Adler's comments on owning a book to my students. If something is really worthwhile, then we buy and write our marginalia!
Happy New Year!

I read the bookreviews in the major papers. Then I store them either in my mind or the computer. I also follow who won or were contenders on the Purlitzer prize, the Booker prize or the Prix Goncourt (? spelling), Nobel prize. I also read in the obituaries of famous writers who died and try to catch up on them. I visit the neigbourhood used bookstore fore cheap paperback (lately a lot of wonderfull Bernard Malamaud). Of course every now and then I pick up the classics too.

I have been reading books on my Pocket PC since 2002. I read classics and other books that I download from the University of Virginia website.

I find that I read more books because I always have my Pocket PC and because all my books are the same size.

My husband and daughter both share a real love of books. Recently, my husband expressed an interest in the Kindle and my daughter was very, very upset. She sees herself as an author when she grows up. I think she sees the Kindle as a threat to both her present and future. She thinks that books will cease to be and that she won't able to find comfort in reading or employment in writing.

I used to read books on my subway ride into work, but now I take the bus and reading on the bus makes me a little carsick. So I end up listening to books on my ipod. The only problem is there is another element to audiobooks, you have like the reader's voice. Sometimes I pass up a book I want to read/listen to because I can't handle the reader's voice!

i read whatever jon stewart and stephen colbert tell me to read!

Wow. Based on the number of responses, a lot of people stop reading to listen to the radio! And they also like to write!

Jon Stewart's interviews are another great place to hear about books.

The caller who mentioned taking public transit reminded me: I've been seeing ads for audiobooks on the subway lately. Is anyone using those?

your comment about traveling with a kindle sparked a true used book memory. when i was younger and back packing through europe i would trade books often with other travelers. i can't imagine those great international conversations on books over a small computer.

just a thought...

I work in lower Manhattan and the Strand on Fulton was my source for recommendations - their staff was superb. When it closed earlier this year I found myself at a loss for a good place to browse. The selections at the 4th avenue store are just not as good.

very busy at work.
27. Read a ton. Find books in various ways (your show has provided at least 6 this year)
I always want to keep them but I always end up selling them on Amazon (usually in order to buy more books)

As someone with a learning disability I find it very hard to absorb info reading electronic media. Give me my hard copy book!!

I think it's important not to conflate going to the library with reading books. We have playaways, books on tape and books on CD, DVD's, and other products not to mention meeting rooms and free programs. So, whether or not you "read books" and whether or not you go to the library are, for some people, two different things. Also, the gentleman you interviewed who enjoys graphic novels, can indeed enjoy Proust, Twain, Poe and other classics in graphic format. Many libraries have extensive graphic novels for children, adolescents, and adults.

I think it's important to think of playaways, books on CD, kindle, etc. as devices as choices, not replacements, for the traditional format of a book. Many of those watch DVD's at home AND go to the movie theatre.

I always carry books with me to squeeze in a few pages when I have a bit of down time. My colleagues have begun to take an interest in them and I've found one colleague in particular who shares my interest in history and biographies. We have lots of lively discussions and trade tips and titles.

Most of my buying is on Amazon, but a good bit of it is full price at brick and mortar shops.

What I find to be the biggest loss of reading electronically is the loss of annotation. For me reading is as much about what I was thinking while reading and noting it, capturing that thought in context, as it is anything else.
I've learned much about my past selves, both ignorant and intellectually brave, by paging through my books.

In today's mail I opened a box from Amazon.com. In it were 2 books my husband had ordered--Nabokov's ADA and Flaubert's MADAME BOVARY. Also included was my 8 year-old son's choice: a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. That, in a nutshell--or, rather, a small cardboard box--is the future of books and reading. Or so I fear.

Jo Ann in Sleepy Hollow

I have been in the book publishing industry for 20 years. Many in the biz feel physical books won't totally go away, but there will be a lot less of them. Similar to what we've seen in the music industry.

I'm on a major budget this year so I'm all about the public library. I work in the theatre and when looking for scripts to direct or monologues to perform I go to the library now instead of buying. The same with big coffee table books re: art and architecture etc.
I'm actually enjoying my time in the library... I had forgotten all about the experience... it's a living internet LOL

Also -- I used to have an earlier e-book, the Rocket Librarian eBook, which I bought for a few hundred dollars in 1999. I left it on the bus, so there went my book collection and my money...

I'm a regular library user and I often order my books online for pick-up at my local branch. I would love it if libraries could utilize the same technology used on Netflix - a queue created by me, suggestions for other books to read, etc. There are so many new books and classics I want to read - I have a mental 'books to read' list, but an electronic one would ensure that I always have something perfect to try on a regular basis...

I lost my job in March and I'm in the library two or three times a week now, when I never used to go. I use the online service to place requests and also peruse the shelves when I'm picking up the requested items. It makes so much more sense than making purchases. And I read more as a result because of the time restrictions.

A distinction should be made between a kindle and an iphone. An iphone may have reader software, but it is backlit, so it will tire your eyes if you read for a prolonged period of time (just like a computer). A kindle uses e-ink, and is NOT backlit. This means no eye strain.

I have always preferred to read books on my computer. Let's draw some numbers:

since almost all the book all technical they are usually around 700 pages per book.

If I have read or consulted around 100 books, I have saved 70 thousand pages.

That's a huge amount of paper and maybe a tree is still alive thanks to me.

Now multiply it for several millions of readers :D

I am an avid reader who has always taken books out of the library. Even in college I managed to check most of my school books out, saving hundreds of dollars every semester. Why buy something that you may touch only once a year after the initial use? New Yorkers have access to one of the most extensive library systems in the world, so if you're looking to save money, you're in the right place!

Regarding the Kindle, when there's a system to "rent" or "check out" the files, I'll buy one.

I buy books constantly from Amazon.com marketplace, new from Amazon, used from stores like the Strand or whatever I run into. They comprise 90% of my regular spending. I am absolutely, irrecoverably addicted.

As for finding out what to buy, a good indication is review overlap: when I see/hear an interesting-sounding books reviewed in the NY Times, on NPR, or, *especially* the London Review of Books, I am more likely to buy it or sequester it from my university library. I am a grad student, so I am entitled to check out hundreds of books for long periods of time.

But the LRB is definitely THE smartest source of information on contemporary books, not just New York Times bestsellers, but interesting titles overlooked by everyone else. The LRB is priceless to me.

If you've been wondering how people can sell books on e-bay so cheaply ,consider this. The shipping and handline charge may (and probably doesn't) equal the actual cost of s/h. I bought a cookbook for a penny (original cost $20 and in perfect shape) and received it in a cheap envelope and postage and just over a doller. Yet, the s/h cost was $4 or more. Three dollars profit is excellent in the book world.

You know, Kindle is a trademarked product from Amazon which has never been a friend to book retailers. Sony and others have what I consider better products. Let's call it an e-book reader and not just hand over a genericized trademark and all the market share that goes with to an 800 pound gorilla.

The way I chose books is based strictly on what the cover looks like. If the cover art catches my eye, I pick it up. If it's boring, I pass it over.
I'm mostly a library user, only buying books if I'm going to read it over and over or at a bulk sale, ex. fill a bag for $2.

P.S. If an author is interviewed on your show, chances are good someone will request the book from my library...

Hi! I have arthritis and have to keep my shlepping down to a bare minimum. The kindle, which is 10.3 oz, less than a paperback sometimes, allows me to read on the subway on the way to work. Also, I travel out of the country on occasion for longer periods, and bringing books with me is a extra weight, and the countries I visit often have a very expensive odd selection of English language books. So bringing 10-20 books on a kindle is great!

For those of us with book lust it is unthinkable to "go electronic." Part of the joy (for me) of reading is the feel, smell, and weight of the book in my hand. I buy about 70% of my books and use the library about 30% of the time. I read many book blogs for recs. and go right for the NYTimes book review on Sundays. I try to patronize used and independent book stores as much as possible though Amazon's prices are simply to cheap to resist (sometimes).

if you're looking for good bookstores, brooklyn has terrific used bookstores in Dumbo, Cobble Hill and even Red Hook. "P.S. Books" in Dumbo is one of the best. There are several others that you just have to stumble across for yourselves.

I get a book first from the library. If I like it enough, I buy a hardcover copy online to reread and lend. Abebooks.com is my usual source.

Indie bookstores, like McNally Jackson and Three Lives, are irreplaceable with booksellers that can figure out what you like and make great suggestions, not to mention that, unlike Amazon, indies are the ones who host weekly or nightly readings with local and touring authors, support book clubs, and keep a higher percentage money spent there within the community. And for a good holiday title, I recently gave someone Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which went over well. Child 44 was a great thriller, very dark and set during KGB-era Soviet Union. For great recommendations by indie booksellers – go to IndieBound.org.

Over the past year, due to economic issues, my reading habits have changed immensely. I am spending less money by ordering books from the local library, and borrowing novels from friends. Also, because of this knowing that I won't be spending so much money, I have been reading ravenously. I am 12 years old.

I simply have no more time and no more space in my apartment. So it's the library, unless it's a super-unique book.

A friend and I were looking over Time's top 100 Books of all Time, and we were bemoaning the fact that each of us had only read maybe 15 of them.

He vowed to stop reading magazines. It's newspapers that sap my time.

I received a Sony eBook reader for my 65th birthday last March. It changed my reading habits and I just love it. Our children now do not have to worry about what to buy us for birthdays or holidays since a gift certificate to the Sony eBook Store is all that we want. I just bought one for my wife for Chanukah and when our doctor saw us reading it in his waiting room he decided to buy one for his wife for the holidays.

We will be traveling for 5 weeks this winter and instead of having to pack several books each, we will just carry our eBook reader with many books loaded on each one. By-the-way, we can both read the same book at the same time.

Libraries have historically seen greatly increased usage during times of economic downturn. In a comfortable, non-threatening, non-hurried setting, people may sit and peruse countless kinds of materials in all kinds of formats.
A major benefit to a public library is the ability to read earlier titles by an author, when the bookstores often only have the latest issue.
But beyond books, there are hundreds of magazines, books on tape/CD, DVDs and more, free for the borrowing. What a great return on your property tax dollars.

You can enlarge the print on the kindle -- I bought one for my 78-yr-old mother, who finished war and peace in two months.

Thank you for reading my comment. I know it almost never happens but the NYT was incorrect! There are bookstores in Berkeley, both general independents and specialty stores. There are thriving bookstores that are not only doing well but are actually expanding.

I get all my books from the library. If I like something enough to read again then I will buy it after I've read/previewed it from the libary. My apt is less cluttered and I save thousands of dollars a year. Even if I bought a Kindle I would still have to pay for the books, which are free at the library.

I'm reading more, but buying fewer, books. One of my "tricks" is to sign into the NY Public Library site when I hear of a good book on WNYC or in the NY Times; usually the book is available at some branch. I reserve it for delivery at my local branch. Sometimes there are so many reserves ahead of mine that it is a pleasant surprise when it arrives. I also use bookins.com and paperbackswap.com to find good homes for old friends and find new ones. I still buy some books, usually after borrowing them and finding them "indispensable."

I have recently begun trading books online with a website called swaptree. Here you can trade something you own for something you want. The only cost is the shipping. It is a great way to get new reading material and to recycle.

Lenny,
No NEED for the Kindle. With a FREE app for iPhone, you can download Stanza and access thousands of books - I d/l'ed, for example, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button prior to seeing the film. It is fully customizable. Apart from this, I am a voracious patron of the NYPL, sub to over 15 magazines, and at least as many RSS feeds.

I hate the idea of paying for the Kindle then not being able to pass on the book or donate to Housing Works. And the Kindle is so expensive and I already carry an iphone!

As the Director of the Oakland, NJ Public Library and past president of the New Jersey Library Association, I can attest that library use statistics are going to be off the wall for this year. Last year alone, at my small library, our circulation increased by 11% and this year over 65,000 used the library! (Lots of people are looking for jobs online and using our computers to create their resume's.) We also offer downloadable audiobooks at no charge. And as for those who say reading is dead? In Oakland New Jersey there are 13 Book Clubs!

There is still a fantastic bookstore named Shakespeare and Company in Berkeley, CA - on the corner of Telegraph and Dwight, just south of campus. This store is a real jewel, buying and selling used and new books.

Anthony

Berkeley does indeed have bookstores. I was there a couple of months ago and had a lovely time shopping at Mrs. Dalloway's -- it is a bookstore that any New Yorker would be happy to have in his neighborhood.

As a librarian, there is no doubt in my mind that circulation for books of all sorts is up. We have more requests for books that are hot off the presses - I think our users are far more cautious with money and are looking to the library more often.

I also like to own my own books and choose to shop at great local used bookstores to support my habbit.

Just happened to check Amazon; kindles are still going for about $400. I might bite at about 1/2 that.

I love to own my books (to lend to friends, to reread, etc) so I prefer not to borrow from the library. To save cash, I buy my books at my local used book store or junk shops. I'm on a classics kick right now, so it's not hard to find the books I want to read to escape to another world- most recently Dickens and HG Wells. Reading War of the Worlds through the Madoff scandal has been fun...

Nothing compares to cozying up with a real book, but, doomed to long hours in front of a monitor, I've succumbed to DailyLit.com -- which sends you small sections of books by daily email. _War & Peace_, for instance, gets delivered over 663 daily installments -- an epic haul still, and as pixelated text rather eye-wearying, but at least the serialized bits are digestible for the modern attention span. And it's a lot better than idle web-surfing for a bit of safe-for-work diversion. Like Audible.com, they charge for most titles -- but most of the great classics are free.

I mostly borrow books from the library. There's been too many times when I've purchased a book, even after scanning it in the store, and then when I take it home and start reading it seriously, it turns out to be such a dud. And then I kick myself for wasting the 15, 25, 30 bucks that I spent.
Though I prefer reading short stories I find it easier to select non-fiction books on topics I might be interested in. But so many of these books are horribly, horribly edited: grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, repeated sentences, awkwardly-written paragraphs, that I keep on vowing to go back to fiction. I rarely follow through.