There is a rare breed still poking it’s head around corners. They used to be very common like the newspapers. You remember them those long sheets of paper you always had to bend and fold just to manage their size and before you knew it you had ink on your fingers and on your clothes before you even got to read a page. Yes, newspapers. There is a newspaper from New Orleans called a Daily but now will only be published 3 times a week due to lack of sales. Can they really call it a daily anymore?

Had a friend who owns another rarity, a book store. Many of the big book store chains are or have already closed their doors; stores called Borders or Barnes & Noble’s. There are still the new season of books. It is a business that is in the middle of change. Many people don’t even know what to do with their old books. Like orphaned children, they just leave boxes of books at old stores with old women putting 50 cents tags on them trying to give the old books one more chance at a value.

So far this year sales of printed books are down 14% from last year according to the Nielsen Book Scan. They have fallen even more behind E-Books; you know all the books you can buy on your Nook, Kindle or other electronic device. Since 2009 sales of books on the devices have tripled in the United States according to YUDU Multi-Platform Publishing. And that is only within one year between 2009 and 2010. Yes, people just don’t want to carry all that paper around anymore and besides that with a few clicks with your finger the book is instantly there. No waiting for books to never appear in your mail anymore. Sometimes they never reach their destination.

When it comes to reading those E-Books, many now prefer a tablet such as the IPad which has overtaken the Kindle and similar devices as the gadget of choice. Perhaps because the IPad is very popular for all the other things it can do as well as simply be a reader. It and other devices at least resembles the dimensions of a book just without all that paper. So, the question is answered. People do not miss the smell, look and feel of a 2 inch book to drag around.

With at least 500 channels on your Cable TV now who has time to read anyway. There even exists books on tape where you can just listen to someone else read to you. We have gotten to be so lazy. Or is it that we are too busy to simply read. Everyone is trained to multi-task lately with texting while driving or talking on the phone while cooking; all sorts of combinations going on at the same time illegal or not. Yes, have someone read to you while you do something else with your hands. No clumsy book to hold.

Who reads anyway anymore? Well, not our kids much. Hey, they don’t even teach cursive writing in most schools anymore. We are lucky if our kids can even sign their name to a check someday. Hey! That is paper too. Save more trees. Most people pay their bills electronically. Yes, direct deposit your pay check into the bank and electronically pay your bills. Now you don’t have to even touch your paper money.

It is no surprise to know that the average person who holds a paper book in their hands to read are 44 years old according to Book Business. The average age of the most frequent book buyer is 50 years old. So, that older woman selling the old books in the only book store left in town is selling to older people.

According to gender, 58% of all book buyers are women and only 42% are men probably because they would rather sit in front of a TV than even have sex no less buy a book. And what type of books are they even buying anymore? Well it certainly isn’t fact finding books.

So far this year the best selling list top three are the three Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James that includes erotic episodes. The others in the trio are Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed all best sellers. Followed by another trilogy of The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins with its others called Catching Fire and Mocking Jay according to Nielson Book Scan. 

I personally know I will miss the books, the book lady and my favorite spot to be in the cubby in the book store but time moves forward to newer devices to have pleasure with as long as we can keep that thing charged and with a lot of power. Some how you will never forget caressing that good reader in your arms.

　

.