Most scare stories around the book industry make fabulous headlines, but are best read as fiction. The novel is alive, despite multiple doomsday predictions; the Kindle has so far failed to kill off the physical book; older teens and young adults bucked gloomy prophecies that their generation doesn’t read and helped to drive book sales up last year through #BookTok videos on the social media platform TikTok.
Most of the sensational stories surrounding the book industry make incredible headlines, but are best read as fiction. Fiction remains popular despite its doomsday predictions; Kindle has so far failed to kill physical books; older teens and young adults disprove pessimistic predictions that their generation will not read, via social media #BookTok videos on the platform TikTok helped drive book sales last year.
I’m with the optimists on the resilience of books, writing and publishing — but, like many people, I struggle at times to focus on reading for pleasure in our shimmering, omnipresent digital world. It’s a paradox of modern life: while our laptops and smartphones are saturated with text, we often find we have neither the time nor the attention to read for fun.
I’m optimistic regarding the resilience of books, writing, and publishing, but like many people, I sometimes struggle to focus on the joy of reading in this glittering, ubiquitous digital world. It’s a paradox of modern life: when our laptops and smartphones are flooded with text, we often find ourselves with neither the time nor the attention to read for pleasure.
