TOP 100 BOOK SITES
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| Forecast: Self-Serving A guide to using game theory to divine and shape the future, based on the premise that people do what’s best for them. feeds.nytimes.com |
Paperback Nonfiction Top 5 at a Glance1. THE BLIND SIDE, by Michael Lewis2. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin3. OUR CHOICE, by Al Gore4. FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner5. THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls feeds.nytimes.com |
Howard Sounes tells Jon Dennis the story of his book 'Heist' Howard Sounes tells Jon Dennis the story of his book 'Heist', about the world's biggest cash robbery from SecuritasJon Dennis feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Paperback Row Paperback books of particular interest. feeds.nytimes.com |
Waterstone's: the steady decline of a chain of superb bookshops The best thing that happened to bookselling during my time as a writer was the brave initiative of Tim Waterstone in establishing a chain of superb bookshops throughout the country. They were well-placed, inviting, efficiently-run and a wonderful improvement on WH Smith, the newsagents which were little more than pretend bookshops.It was a bad day for authors when Tim Waterstone decided to sell his bookshops to WH Smith and retire. Four or five years ago there was a rumour that he might be tempted to come back and buy up the rival bookselling business Ottakers. But he did not come back and high street bookselling in this country has declined so rapidly since then that it seems in danger of disappearing.What has gone wrong? The ending of retail price maintenance was a great blow to small independent bookshops. Waterstone's, which had bought Ottakers, was filling its windows and tables with cut-price paperbacks and three-for-the-price-of-two options, and appeared to be in a strong position. Publishers were obliged to pay, and pay heavily, for good positions for their titles in their shops.But fundamentally Waterstone's had no real interest in books and was not looking to the future. The future lay with internet bookselling which Waterstone's has eventually started, but where it will find difficulty matching the super-efficiency of Amazon. Its policy of looking backwards and following what sold well last year or the year before has now hit the buffers. Celebrity books sold badly last Christmas and their sales dipped steeply. It is no surprise to hear managing director Gerry Johnson has left the sinking vessel. And it is too late now, I reckon, for his replacement, Dominic Myers, to call on Tim Waterstone.Michael Holroyd, president of the Royal Society of literature.Waterstone'sBooksellersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |