Sebastian: The Bookstore Questions

I'd like us to come out of Spring Break considering the Behemoth we've barely touched on. To that end, there have been some pieces published in just the last few days considering Amazon's impact and the corresponding yet surprising resurgence/persistence of bookstores.

As a palate cleanser, I'd like us to read in LITERARY PUBLISHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY (the gray book) two pieces: Matthew Stadler's "The Ends of the Book" and then the very next piece, Steve Wasserman's "The Amazon Effect." 

I want us to read the Stadler because of the community-fostering aspect of Pangyrus' mission that Greg Harris talked about. Some of Stadler's arguments reminded me very much of the way Greg talked about his mission.

Then, a few recent pieces from around the web:

How Amazon's Algorithms Curated a Dystopian Bookstore

Why Independent Bookstores are Thriving in Spite of Amazon

And then, only if you have time, check out the slightly older but very good piece in The New Yorker: Cheap Words.