When I was pregnant with my first child, I started buying series of books that my child would read as he got older, including Sesame Street, Disney, Discovery Science, Harry Potter, etc. I would read the books to him, while allowing him to read along.

I have done the same with my other three children, and they all have whole collections of books that I hope, in time, they will give to their children. It is not surprising then that they all love reading.

While reading is an individual thing for the most part, swapping books, loaning out books, and having printed books that remind you of a time past are things that ebooks cannot replace. Yes, ebooks have their advantages, and books in general (in any form) can transport you to places that exist in the imagination of the author. But can ebooks transport you to a time long gone when you snuggled with a parent, a child, a sibling, or a best friend, each of you holding part of the book as you were both transported to the world created by the author? I think not.

Maybe this is something that the book industry should use in promoting printed books. They should also come up with discounted prices for the ebooks as there are no printing costs. Of course I expect my cut of the profits if the idea works.

I agree that the Amazon reviews are very helpful. I had to buy some new technology books recently and the reviews were invaluable.

There is a wonderful book store here in OKC called Full Circle. It has nooks and crannies where one can (literally, in my case) stumble across a section devoted to Oklahoma, etc. The area dedicated to politics seems very even handed and very well stocked They seem to be prosperous, but I have no idea how they are really doing. The difference for me is that I can walk around the bookstore and be introduced to things I wouldn’t have thought to look for on Amazon. I tend to buy my fiction from Full Circle, even if it must be ordered, because I’d hate to see them disappear.

I have mixed feelings about the demise of the printed book. Maybe print-on-demand will give us the best of both worlds

For authors and book publishers, the paramount issue is copyright and its protection. Unauthorized copying of books no longer requires a printing press.

Book publishers are accustomed to selling individual books and promoting individual authors and imprints. The time has come for publishers to unite in an effort to flog their core product. Not a specific book by a specific author but the generic artifact itself.

Before Christmas, we need to see an ad campaign promoting a book as the perfect gift. Elegant, enlightening, entertaining, informative, decorative, permanently useful.

(If she cooks and likes Mexican food, surprise her with a Mexican cookbook. She can’t miss the thought went into it or not appreciate it as a special gift just for her. Etc, etc.)

Needless to say, publishers haven’t the imagination to do any such thing. If ebooks are destined replace quarto-bound printed text, the death of the traditional book will have been hastened, not delayed, by modern publishers. Editorial standards in American book publishing have never been so low.

But this is all closing the stable door after the horses are gone. American book publishing is in the hands of Germans.

Oh wow, I strongly disagree. Amazon.com’s website is very useful to learn about books. As matter of fact, I am stunned that you might think otherwise. A brick and mortar store cannot even begin to compete. Amazon’s customer reviews alone can be most helpful. This Internet bookseller often allows you to read excerpts from the book. It also provides recommendations of other similar works.

I own roughly 3,000 books—and sometimes I am tempted to envy the functionally illiterate. They don’t have any worries concerning where to put all their books and other publications. God obviously loves them more than me.

David Horowitz is a good man—but he has got to overcome his white guilt. Strongly advise him to imagine Barack Obama as just another white dude. Hope you and your wife enjoy the vacation. See you in about two weeks.