Choose Books: A New Series

As folks plot out their holiday gift-giving, I'm starting a new near-daily series here at Isak that will run through the season and that has a very simply, very direct message: Choose books as your gifts. You know, of course, that the book industry is downright precarious right now--publisher layoffs are old news, fewer authors are getting published in the trimmed lists, book sales are down, and influential review sections are shuttering. Moreover, independent booksellers, those bastions of vibrant literary life, are fighting for their lives.

I quote author Joshua Henkin, who discussed this last year at the Emerging Writers Network:

What's at stake is the future of books, and of reading culture. Although books will continue to be published (Stephenie Meyer and J.K. Rowling will publish their next books), for everyone except a handful of bestselling authors, the future is far more uncertain. What's at stake is the wealth and diversity of book culture. Many classics (books we read in our English classes in high school and college, books our children read or will read), simply wouldn't be published by today's standards and, if they were published and didn't sell well immediately, they would be removed from the bookstore shelves. This is why it's so important that you buy books for the holidays. There's a website dedicated to this enterprise which you might want to check out ... You really can make a difference. A typical paperback novel costs less than fifteen dollars, far cheaper than a necklace or a sweater or dinner at a nice restaurant. I would especially encourage you to buy books from independent bookstores, which are in the most serious trouble and which promote books that go beyond the usual bestsellers and where the employees really know about books. Independent booksellers are the unsung heroes in what are very difficult times.

All this is true. Your participation in literary culture matters more than ever. And it's not as if this is something to be done out of charity: there are so many wonderful books out there, dynamic and strange and absorbing books, books suited to so many different personalities and tastes.

Choose Books is designed to help you find them.

Each of the near-daily posts will feature a book that I suggest you consider as a gift. I will feature books of wide-ranging topics, genres, and styles. They will be recently published and published long ago; they will be authored by esteemed and emerging writers by small and large publishers. I will even slip in a few magazines that make for excellent gift subscriptions. All featured books will be in print and available.

Every one will be outstanding. I will also suggest what kinds of specific readers might enjoy the featured book and give you the facts you need to make your gift choices: cost comparison of the book's different editions, for example. Near the end of the season, I will collect this whole series into a nicely-designed Gift Guide which you will be able to download as a PDF, and perhaps use as you navigate 2010's birthdays, holidays, ceremonies, and affectionate 'just thinking of you' surprises.

Because the engaged literary culture we love so much isn't contained in just one season. Our purposeful choices in support of the joy we share in books go far beyond.

If you want to nominate a title for the Choose Books series, or if you are interested in writing a guest post for the series yourself, please contact me at annaleighclark-at-yahoo-com.