| A survey conducted by an advertising firm at the end of last year seeks to give us a picture of book buying in America. I can’t vouch for the statistical validity of the internet-based survey, which had 2,200 respondents, It claims to have a 1.5 percent margin of error. So what did the survey results [...] Last year I read nearly 150 books, with fiction (74) slightly exceeding nonfiction (67). In the latter category, about one third of the books were biographies or autobiographies. So how did I do in voting for the National Book Critics Circle awards? Once again an 0-fer in the finalists in four main categories: fiction, biography [...] Remember my “nonresolution” to read what I want when I feel like it? Given that I posted it just 10 days ago, temptation has already reared its head. It sneakily arrived in the mailbox. When I got home last night there were two catalogs from a major publishing house of forthcoming books on a number [...] The only New Year’s resolution I think I’ve ever kept is the last one I made. Years ago, I resolved to not make New Year’s resolutions and have been very good at it since. (I don’t remember if that was before or after I decided that each Lenten season I would give up giving up [...] It’s the time of year where we look both forward and back. In looking back, I am surprised at how closely the percentage of Bibliolust books read last year is to the all time percentage. I doubt there’s any significance but I do find it interesting. Looking forward means half the books this month actually [...] Want to know what happens when I combine a lengthy vacation with our “empty nest”? It means I read more books than in any year since I started keeping track in 1976. This year I read 147 books, compared to the prior record of 127 last year. And although the number may be somewhat squishy, [...] As longtime readers likely are aware, I don’t do my “best of” for books until the year has ended. I always fear I am going to read THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR after I post that if I do so before year-end. This is another year, though, where I can say nothing in the [...] This year for the first time I decided to keep track of how many pages were in the books I read. I never did before because I figured it wasn’t fair to include the index and didn’t want to go through the hassle of counting pages, subtracting index-like matter and adding in prefaces and the [...] Anyone who is thinking about giving a book for a gift is thinking of Christmas. But four months from now is the perfect opportunity to give someone a book as World Book Night premiers in the U.S. on April 23, 2012. And now we know the 30 books that will be given away and the [...] I’m behind on writing reviews and have not been implementing ideas for other posts. I have several review books lined up ahead of even more books I’ve been wanting to read for a while. Still, I find a touch of consolation in the fact the same thing is happening in London. I actually have a [...] | DisclaimerThe views expressed here are mine and mine alone. I do not speak for my law partners, our associates, staff and clients or my family and friends. Not only should any opinions here not be attributed to them, chances are they probably don't agree with me.  Contact meYou can e-mail me at prairieprogressive at gmaildotcom. |