The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs Eryn Lynum full-color images show the wildflowers

full-color images show the wildflowers of eastern North America close-up and in their natural habitats

]" -- Kirkus Reviews

In Grandma Loves You

were German linguists and cultural researchers who gathered legendary folklore and aimed to collect the stories exactly as they heard them

--Maxine Kumin

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs Eryn Lynum full-color images show the wildflowersIn recent years, cultural commentators have sounded the alarm about the dire state of reading in America. Americans are not reading enough, they say, or reading the right books, in the right way. In this book, Alan Jacobs argues that, contrary to the doomsayers, reading is alive and well in America. There are millions of devoted readers supporting hundreds of enormous bookstores and online booksellers. Oprah's Book Club is hugely influential, and a