As an increasing number of newspapers eliminate or reduce the importance of their book reviews, the Inquirer’s book critic makes a case for keeping them around: the five-best selling papers in the US are those that have the strongest book review sections.
Across the US, newspapers have been cutting book review sections and staff and running more reviews from wire services or other papers. In turn, book websites and blogs have begun including more and more book news and reviews. Is this the end of an era, or do newspaper book reviews still serve an important function?