LazyLibrary = Lazy Readers
OK, I admit that I am not in the demographic that LazyLibrary is trying to reach with their search engine for books no longer than 200 pages. But I am getting that strange twisting surreal feeling. Do adults really want to only read books under 200 pages? To me it sounds very like those middle school and high school teens who are trying to finish a book report by the next day and the length of the book is VERY important to them.
The site gives its rationale as
Ever read a book that was a few hundred pages longer than it needed to
be? Yeah, so have we. Fortunately, there are authors out there that
would rather have a concise and effective book than a lengthy and
diluted tome, and that's where we come in.
Fine. That doesn't push my buttons, but their slogan I find really horrifying in today's culture where reading fewer books is becoming a disturbing trend: READ LESS. GET MORE. Good grief!
Really, am I just one of those old-fashioned print librarians who isn't understanding the new online culture where time spent reading is seen as wasted time? Can anyone explain this to me? The only reason I would use this site is to refer those procrastinating teens to it for their last-minute book reports.
Comments
When facilitating book discussion groups, I found that people would be Put Out if the books ran much longer than 200 pages. They were busy people, they had to read it by the deadline of the next meeting (and then remember the details well enough to discuss them)...so, yeah. Short books: not only of interest for book reports.
Posted by: Mark K. | September 5, 2007 11:20 AM
Thanks for the comment! I had never thought of that. Does that hold true of most of the hot book club books too? I had always thought they were popular for book clubs because of their discussability (not a real word) but perhaps the ideal book club book is short and fosters discussion?
Posted by: Tasha | September 5, 2007 11:53 AM