Category: books

For hundreds of years, people have bemoaned the end of serious (or what is sometimes known as “high”) culture — yet culture survives. Yet at this moment in history, as the mass media and the Internet converge, one thing is clear: the ways we transmit culture are changing. Exactly where does reading fit into this new paradigm? For all Americans, the journey to literacy has taken a new turn.

In the world of books, trash and art still don’t ride in the same section of the bus; the books mindset — at least the respectable-publishing mindset — is still segregationist. If the movie-world view is all about the vital connections between art and trash, and about how each is the lifeblood of the other, the book person’s imagination is taken up with the neverending struggle of art, talent and brains to triumph over the forces of money, hustle and fame. [thanks steve]

Featured here are 13 examples of the latter, often written by librarian authors, and starring heroines (sorry man librarians—you’re left out in the cold as usual) who find love amidst the glamour of card catalogs, microfilm readers, and bookmobiles.