I don't listen to many podcasts, because I find them boring, the way I do most TV shows, which is probably because I don't stick with them long enough. (I wish children's books podcasts were more like PTI. I enjoy arguing.) However, I do like the NYT Book Review podcast, and I particularly like last week's episode, because it touches on two issues near and dear to my heart: Amazon and children's book reviews.In the section on Amazon, Sam Tannenhaus asks something I've been wondering: why do all the major innovations in reading and publishing seem to be driven by Amazon? For a while, I have perceived Amazon as the big bad, so I was surprised when Nancy Pearl, whose action figure I often receive as a gift, signed a deal with them. I thought it was the position of librarians to dislike Amazon--especially now that they are encroaching on our territory. However, my boyfriend often declares, "Nobody loves books more than Amazon." I think he has a point.
