From Publishers Weekly, here is their annual best books list. From The New York Times, here are the 100 notable books of 2009. From Amazon, here are their Best Books of 2009. From THES, on the "giving it away" argument: Matthew Reisz assesses what open access means for book authors. The future of bookselling: Borders has gone belly-up, Amazon thrives, and doom-mongers are proclaiming the death of literature on the high street — but this could be the opening of a fine new chapter. A look at why Borders's demise is not the end of the book world. The point of diminishing returns: Publishers are beyond risk-averse, they are decision-averse — and we are all suffering from the lack of variety. Meet publishers' enemy No. 1: Sci-fi novelist Cory Doctorow is shaking up the traditional book-selling model, and apparently getting rich doing it (and more). A review of A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron. Is the term "out of print" now an anachronism? Scott McLemee eavesdrops on planning for a brave new world. A review of The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future by Robert Darnton. Michael Wolff on why books are bad for you. From The Awl, here's a graphic history of magazine income over the last decade (and newspapers). ZineWiki is an open-source encyclopedia devoted to zines and independent media. The airline industry is struggling, and so is magazine publishing, but a British company is profiting by combining the two. SkyMall, a catalog with altitude: The airplane publication has become an institution, a subject of mockery and fascination.
