Bookworms Book It

People are not browsing in bookstores like they used to, according to booksellers just winding up their annual New York convention. More customers phone in orders or double-park while they dash in to make a purchase. "People are spending less time in the back of the store, looking through the philosophy section, and more time at the tables for recommended books in front," said a California bookseller. The old-fashioned bookstore browser who picks and pokes and doesn't care about the critics or Oprah or the bestseller charts may wind up on the endangered species list.
-- Beverly Hanly