Reports of the death of
the printed book have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.
Physical book sales have
increased by just over four million this year, fighting back against the
digital revolution.
Last year saw the first rise in print book sales since 2007,
while digital book sales dropped for the first time since 2011.
The main attractions are the ‘feel’ of a ‘real’
book, the urge to satisfy the need for collecting, and the convenience, not
having to worry about batteries. This latter I can sympathise with since my
Kindle died on me and I won’t be replacing it until we move back to the UK
(some time in the future!) Another draw is that people tend to spend so much
time with computers, phones and tablets that savouring a physical
book can be a blessed relief.
Not surprisingly, children's
print books have generally continued to sell well, as have cookery and (very surprisingly)
colouring books.
According to a recent report, so far this year 85
million printed books have been purchased - 4.3 million more than last year.
Yes, there’s a place in our
lives for both formats. Let’s just celebrate books.
