Noon, Day One, 2006

January 1st, 2006 · 6 Comments
by Booksquare

So much for our resolution to hit the ground running in the new year. If only we’d kept the thought to “hit the ground”. You live, you learn.

We’d like to thank everyone who reads Booksquare. Especially those of you make it part of your everyday routine. Writers always wonder who is reading their work and how they feel about it. It is humbling to realize that people we’ve never met or seen read our (sometimes nonsensical) words regularly. Thank you.

It is our belief that 2005 will be remembered in the annals of publishing history (we are taking it on faith that such annals exist) as a dawning of a new age in the industry. Maybe it won’t be recalled with the fondness the Gutenberg press inspires. Possibly it won’t have the impact of mass market publication. It wasn’t so much that new technologies emerged this year; it will be, we think, the fact that these technologies made it easier for consumers to get their hot little hands on books.

Oh sure, writing in a Parisian garret is all very well and good, but sometimes you want to read and analyzed and whatnot.

We should, possibly, offer a quick definition. By books, we do not necessarily mean bound and printed stacks of paper. Though of course they are included in the mix. There is evidence* that reading is making a comeback. Easily available audiobooks are being embraced by the iPod generation (unlike Generation X, the iPod group is amazingly diverse in age, etc). Electronic books are finding their audiences (see previous re: diversity). While there is no substitute for browsing in a bookstore, the fact that one-click shopping is available via Amazon has made book-buying easier for the multitudes who cannot fit bookstores into their busy schedules.

Stories continue to abound, being told in new formats. Blogs, despite what the pure purists say, are not just online journals. They are personal (defining personal as you need to) publishing tools. Easy-to-use technology allows writers to focus on what they do best.

Yes, drinking.

Traditionally, we spend our New Year’s Day hiking five miles through the mean streets of Pasadena (stopping for a leisurely lunch) to see the amazing things humans can do with lentils and oranges. Also coconuts, eucalyptus leaves, and artichokes. Due to tradition and possibly massive quantities of water falling from the sky, we are foregoing exercise. Instead, we are going to curl up with a book or three. Someone once said, “Start as you mean to go on”. And so we will.

* – Not all of it was made up by BS to make our little theories work better.

File Under: Square Pegs

6 responses so far ↓

  • SusanGable // Jan 2, 2006 at 8:51 am

    I have joined the ranks of the techno geeks. (g) For Christmas, I got the COOLEST techie present – a cell phone that is also a palm-gadget. On this, I now have the opportunity to have MORE books at my fingertips. I’m starting slow, to see how I like it, with a free download of Swiss Family Robinson. So far, it’s not a bad experience. It’s not the same as holding a book in my hands, but the idea that I can put many books onto this one little thing, and have them with me all the time?

    I LOVE that idea. LOL. More books, less space, always with me (well, when I remember to take my phone with me – I’m working on that) what’s not to love?

    Okay, the screen doesn’t show much text at one time, so I have to press the next page button often.

    The other thing I don’t love about these eBooks is the cost. Come on, folks. The publishers have been griping for years about the costs of ink and paper as their major expenses. So, when an eBook has none of those costs, why am I charged the same price (or damn near) for it as for the printed version?

    Still, all in all, I’m starting to get “with” the revolution here. (g) (Some of us resist change strongly. LOL. Eventually we see the value in this new stuff.)

  • Booksquare // Jan 2, 2006 at 10:50 am

    A Treo? I think they are so adorable. However, given the number of phone calls I make/receive, the cost of the device strikes me as prohibitive. However, there are benefits. If I were the type to do analysis, well, I would. Maybe later this year. Apparently, before entering into a new cell plan, one is supposed to weigh the options. I’ve decided I’m not weighing anything until a little less me is available.

    As for cost, this is today’s bugaboo. In fact, if I can get through a few things and stop crying over the Rose Parade (not the fact that it’s raining, but the fact that all those kids worked so hard to get here and it’s raining and they’re still marching like it doesn’t matter), then I’ll get to it. Otherwise, see previous failure of resolution…

  • Lorra // Jan 2, 2006 at 11:56 am

    Booksquare –

    First, I read your blog every day and usually enjoy a chuckle or two, but I sense your voice and possibly you are now someone different or is it me who has changed now that I’m working on new material?

    Second, I understand your disappointment re: The Rose Parade, but if you lived in the upper midwest, you would dance and sing if it rained on January first. (Actually it is raining and I AM dancing and singing – well sort of – right now I’m typing, but a second ago I was singing.)

    Happy New Year!
    Lorra

  • Booksquare // Jan 2, 2006 at 6:37 pm

    Nope, same me, though for the past week, David Thayer and Susan Gable have been filling in while I’ve been out of town. And they have very distinctive voices of their own. Also, they’re smarter.

    David and Susan have an open invitation to post when the spirit moves them, so if the voice changes, do not adjust your RSS feed….

    Congratulations on working on new material. I do think it affects how one reads/hears/experiences other things. And that’s a good feeling.

  • Lorra // Jan 3, 2006 at 7:43 am

    Thanks Booksquare for the good wishes re: new material. I’m glad you’re still you – was getting worried my invisible friend really was.

  • Lauren Baratz-Logsted // Jan 3, 2006 at 2:13 pm

    Booksquare is an international treasure. May you always be you.