Monday 29 June 2009

My Thoughts: So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid


I'm trying to push my non-fiction reading by reading stuff which isn't just memoirs, my comfort zone. However I have been pretty unsuccessful as they seem to get pushed to the bottom of the pile, then get returned to the library.
This book is the first of the books I borrowed that are about books or words - I'm studying an English Language course at the moment so this is fairly safe ground for me.
So Many Books is a tiny book with just 146 pages, the premise of the book is based on the fact there is a surplus of books which far exceed demand. Zaid discusses whether publishers should print more titles a year than there are babies born, and what the effect is.
The book discusses supply and demand, publishing costs verses losses and whether a book can be seen as a piece of media, all of which seem quite heavy but you are never lost. The book also touches briefly on the history of printing, which is interesting as my next book is about the publication and printing of the first dictionary.
An easy and interesting little read.
Challenges:
Non-fiction 5
999 (non-fiction)

1 comment:

serendipity_viv said...

I have been trying to widen my horizons too with my non fiction selections as I found I was only reading memoirs too.