Toni Morrison Archives - Bob on Books

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The Weekly Wrap: June 22-28

Barnes & Noble and the Big Five

A few weeks ago, my wife and I visited our new Barnes & Noble store (they had moved from a nearby location into a more spacious building). Overall, we were quite impressed with the atmosphere. But there was one thing we noticed in different sections of the store.

My wife is an artist and is always on the lookout for books on technique. One publisher excels in this area but we did not see any of their books. As you know, I review a number of religious books. I did not see hardly any of the imprints I review on the shelves. I’m on good terms with a publicist at one of those houses and she observed it is very hard for their representatives to get their books into Barnes & Noble.

It turns out that this is a systemic issue. Publisher’s Weekly ran an article titled “Independent Publishers Are Fed Up with Barnes & Noble” The reason is that mid-size and smaller publishers who aren’t one of “the Big Five” have a very hard time getting their books on the shelves. Are the Big Five books better? Certainly in some cases, but I would have no problem in that religion section suggesting good titles by notable authors with attractive cover design from publishers not represented.

What surprises me is that I thought Daunt’s Barnes & Noble was letting booksellers operate more like indies. Apparently, this doesn’t extend to how they curate their book buys.

Everyone likes to rail against Amazon. But without fail, I find Amazon links to every book I review (I use publisher’s links to let people make their own buying choice). It’s no wonder that many of the publishers I review with work with Amazon. They account for a high percentage of their sales. But people miss the particular browsing experience of the bookstore in using Amazon.

What this requires of brick and mortar B & N stores is that the booksellers truly function more like indies. It means harder work assessing more publishing lines and reading reviews of a broader range of books. And it means a different corporate vision of the publishing industry that refuses to marginalize small houses.

Five Articles Worth Reading

I know there are a number of Jane Austen fans out there. Lauren Groff contends that “Jane Austen’s Boldest Novel Is Also Her Least Understood.” The novel is Mansfield Park.

Most of us know Toni Morrison for her novels. However, most of us do not know of her role as an editor at Random House. Rather than just promote her own work, she championed the works of a rising generation of Black writers from Angela Davis and Huey Newton to Lucille Clifton and Gayl Jones. Clint Smith uncovers this unseen work of Morrison in “How Toni Morrison Changed Publishing.”

While the whole aim of our online technologies of commerce is to make buying “frictionless,” that may not be good for all of life. Select your items, click one button, and the seller will be paid and the items shipped to you, sometimes even on the same day. But is this a good thing? Regina Munch reviews Christine Rosen’s The Extinction of Experience, In “Encounters with Reality” she explores how some friction might be a good thing in our lives.

Between last year’s publication of James and Ron Chernow’s new biography, Mark Twain is on many of our minds. In particular, we like his witty quotes. But did he really say it? “Did Mark Twain Re a lly Say That?” includes a fun quiz of potential Twain quotes. I only identified 53 percent of them correctly. Maybe you can do better!

Lastly, ” ‘Bookworm, Cliché, Deadline…’ And Other Unexpected Etymologies” explores the origins of the bookish words and phrases peculiar to bibliophiles.

Quote of the Week

Pearl S. Buck, the missionary to China and novelist, born on June 26, 1892, made this comment that is perennially relevant:

“When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I posted several articles this week on the low rates at which men are reading fiction and why they should. Personally, I don’t think telling men what they “should” do is a winning strategy. As a reviewer, I have a higher tolerance for literary fiction than most men. I have to admit, most covers and cover copy of the latest books don’t attract me. Not sure I can say why nor what needs to change. Instead I turn to classics, or mysteries, or history to find a good read. Maybe that’s just me but it appears I’m not alone.

The court decision in favor of Meta AI found that training AI on books was “fair use.” I think this is wrong and a form of theft. In so many aspects of AI, we are giving Big Tech what it wants–intellectual property, energy, water, and pervasive presence. While there may be good uses of AI, the amoral character of the industry does not bode well. in my opinion.

Finally, I admitted on my Facebook page that this blogging thing is getting harder. Facebook had been a major source of traffic to my blog at one time. Now, blog posts just get buried by Facebook’s algorithms unless devoted followers like and share them like crazy (hint, hint!). I like writing, but I also like featuring good books. I will keep writing because it crystallizes my own thinking about a book. but I will try some other things as well.