First of all, there was the stand of Stephanie Meyers books prominently displayed at the front of the store, along with posters for the upcoming movie. Not unexpected, and I can deal. But still. Blech.
However, was this enough copies of Twilight? No, no, no, no, of course it wasn't, because when I strolled through the Young Adult section, there they were again: almost an entire case filled with the Twilight series, except for the last shelf, which housed the Eragon books. The book-case next to this was pretty much devoted to new vampire, werewolf, or whatever-other-monster-is-popular-at-the-moment novels that are riding on the coat tails of the Twilight craze. Do you know how many solid, well-established, Newberry-Award-winning novels must have been moved to the store-room to make room for this garbage? Two-book cases full, that's how many.
Of course, by focusing on this abomination, I'm entirely ignoring the fact that there are shelves upon shelves of those insipid Clique books or TTYL (a series entirely composed of text message conversation. Isn't that clever? Answer: No. It's not.), or their copycats. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you live a sheltered life and are extremely lucky. Moreover, this is the majority of the YA section, books like these, written exclusively for girls (What? Boys don't read anymore?). And this, my good people, is why Teen Girl Squad is such a true and accurate commentary on life. It angers me that our society throws out cliches about "being an original" and "think for yourself," while practically cramming shallowness, consumerism, and boy-obsession down the throats of teenage girls. Not to mention training an entire readership to devour nothing but chick-lit for the rest of their adult life.
I fear for the youth of our nation.
Remember that quote from You've Got Mail? "I've heard him compare his bookstore to a Price Club, and the books in it to cans of olive oil." What bothers me most is that bookstores, publishing companies, and writers (I'm not sure who is the most guilty) all seem to be conspiring to push certain books on the public, to create these crazes. But books are not cans of olive oil, and I hate it that places like Borders basically tell their consumers what to buy, and that the public actually listens. For goodness' sake, Be Original. Think for Yourself. The question is, would these books be so popular if they didn't take up half the store? I guess it's possible, but I seriously doubt it. It is as if supply is creating demand, not the other way around.
So. I have a plan. Since the general public is so fond of being told what to read, can we start a literary oligarchy? Pleeeeease? Who's with me? Keep in mind that this would be a merit-based system, so you can only join if you can provide plausible evidence of good taste. Read the title of this post for the first qualification.
