There’s a post on Kottke today with the headline “I don’t read books anymore” that has me thinking. As recently as two years ago, I was reading between 15 and 20 books a year, most of them novels—and that was in addition to my magazine and blog roll. This year, I haven’t finished reading a single novel. I made it about 400 pages into Infinite Jest, and was absolutely loving it, but I put it…

When it comes to books, we Americans have author loyalty (I can’t wait to read the new Lorrie Moore novel), and bookstore loyalty (I will only shop at local independent bookstores, like Visible Voice or Mac’s Backs). Both forms of faithfulness offer perks, often intertwined. You can, for instance, hear your favorite author read at your local bookstore, buy a copy and have him sign it (and if you are really lucky, join him in a…

There’s a post on Kottke today with the headline “I don’t read books anymore” that has me thinking. As recently as two years ago, I was reading between 15 and 20 books a year, most of them novels—and that was in addition to my magazine and blog roll. This year, I haven’t finished reading a single novel. I made it about 400 pages into Infinite Jest, and was absolutely loving it, but I put it…

When it comes to books, we Americans have author loyalty (I can’t wait to read the new Lorrie Moore novel), and bookstore loyalty (I will only shop at local independent bookstores, like Visible Voice or Mac’s Backs). Both forms of faithfulness offer perks, often intertwined. You can, for instance, hear your favorite author read at your local bookstore, buy a copy and have him sign it (and if you are really lucky, join him in a…