How has reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically?
When I was a child we didn't have audio books, eBooks, or Kindles. Just old-fashioned books. There was no such thing as PCs or laptops. The options are so wide open now with the advancement of technology that it is even more important for libraries to have specialists in readers advisory. Many patrons want someone that works for their library who is savvy in what genres of books are available and in what specific formats. When I was younger and even in my first years of college, not much emphasis was put on pleasure reading. You picked up the latest novel that was at your local drug store or book store, and libraries were mostly used to gain access to periodical materials for research projects.
Talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now.
I don't see publishing to be much different in the future than it is today even with all the different formats for reading. With all the new formats though, I think there will still be demand for physical books. There's a population of readers who still want the feel of a book, and I don't see that going away. Publishing will be become more complex in the area of how to handle rights for e-materials that are loaned out by libraries, but I think this will work its way out as licensing for such materials becomes more mature.
Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive?
I don't see reading declining. In fact, I think people read more for pleasure now than they did twenty years ago. Since reference materials are so easily accessible online, this aspect of the library has decreased. In it's place, libraries are promoting more leisurely reading. Therefore, there is an increased market in this area by patrons. In addition, there is a whole market for books that are more like film. I believe this will only increase in technology where books will include visual effects as well as audio.
What will happen to traditional publishing?
I think publishing will become more complicated with the advent of eBooks, audio books, and other evolving technologies. This will be mostly in how licensing will be handled with libraries and loaning these types of materials.
About Me
About Me
When I was teen, I was on a heavy Stephen King and Peter Straub reading jag. I couldn’t get enough of these authors. Today I still have my collection of these books residing on a shelf of my bookcase. Sometime in my early twenties I became less enamored with King’s readings. I don’t know if my taste just changed or I had burned out on his style. I have to say though that The Shining by King was the first novel I read of his and my favorite out of all his books.
I then started leaning more toward suspense and thrillers and less of horror. Some of the authors I followed were Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson. My favorite Patterson novels were The Beach House and When the Wind Blows. They were other suspense authors peppered into the mix, but this is the one genre where I mostly stuck to favorite authors.
When my children were in grade school, the Harry Potter craze was all the rage, and I was just as engrossed in reading the books as they were. I found out at that time how much I enjoyed fantasy and many young adult novels. It seemed that YA authors were more creative in many ways than most adult novel authors. My sister-in-law is a YA librarian at a high school, so she would advise or buy certain books for me to read. For young adult reads I didn’t really stick to one author, but would go off recommendations and reviews for great YA books. Yes I devoured the Twilight series, but I can’t say this was my favorite YA read. The best young adult novels I have read are Jellico Road by Melina Marchetta and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
I still enjoy reading suspense and thrillers as well as many young adult books, but in the last few years, I have also started reading many gentle reads that pull at the heart strings. Again there is no specific author that I stick to, but mostly go off recommendations and reviews to select reads from this genre. Some of my favorites in this category are: Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.
I am not much of a non-fiction reader unless I’m forced to read it. In addition, I a little romance goes a long way in a book, so I’m not a big romance novel reader.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
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