At Least We're Still Reading

A STORY I read in yesterday's newspaper reveals that, despite the economic downturn, book sellers are still doing good business in Europe.

Whether they are picking up "La Crise, et Après?" by the French economist Jacques Attali, one of umpteen translations of the American author Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series, or "Jamie's Ministry of Food," by the British television chef Jamie Oliver, they are buying books. As the recession leaves other media industries in tatters, the oldest mass medium of all is holding up surprisingly well.

The story focuses on book sales in France and continental Europe and shows that sales are up in recent months. In December of 2008 sales were up 2 percent; in January 2009 they were up 2.4 percent. The revenue numbers are even better: 4 percent gains in December and 7 percent gains for January. You can read the whole story here.

I suppose you could read this as evidence of a protracted economy: more people are out of a job so more people have free time so more people are heading down to the local bookstore to pick up a book. But that's probably not the right conclusion. A better one is probably this: despite the influx of media and technology in the world, a lot of people still like to curl up on the couch with a good book.

What are you reading? I've got Huxley's 'Brave New World' going right now (it's for class).
CJS