A group of strangers board a flight unaware that it is doomed to crash. Before it does we learn the backstories of ten of them. No, I am not talking about the hit show Lost. Instead it is the premise of Dear Edward, my first crack at a Read with Jenna selection (Jenna being Jenna Bush Hager, former First Twin and current morning TV co-host.) It has gotten me thinking about where we get our recommendations.
Since the steady decline of independent bookstores began in the late ’90s, there has been a frequent lamentation about the death of the handsell. If you are not familiar with the term, it means simply that people buy books based on local recommendations. Your neighborhood bookseller has a reading history and a knowledge of your preferences. Local was better. This was especially true at the level of buying. A bookstore in Alameda might highlight a local author or create a window display of books based on local interest.
And it’s true that with fewer localized stores, books are being hand sold at the national level. I’ve now got Reese Witherspoon and a president’s daughter determining my book choices. I wouldn’t be surprised if these ladies have assistants who are doing most of the preselection. So to make it weirder, we have a kind of shadow bookseller whose identity is unknown.
And, yet, I am enjoying these choices for the most part. Dear Edward is not a perfect book. I think it is being slightly over hyped. But I did enjoy it.
Books Smitten 