THE YEAR IN REVIEW - 2009
By Alex Good

December 28, 2009

Another year in the books (pun intended) and I'm feeling fresher than I have in a long time.

Why?

Mainly because I've been cutting back, paring the site down to a manageable effort that more closely corresponds to where my head is at these days. 

Last year, as you'll recall, I got rid of the Trivia Challenge and scrapped the Anthology archives (for reasons I gave in my 2008 Year in Review). I also introduced a series of short weekly reviews dubbed The Headboard, in part as a way to cut through the backlog (vain hope), and in part because reviews-in-brief was a direction being taken by a newspaper I frequently write for. Going forward, these short reviews will continue to run on the main page and then be sent to the Archives.

In 2010 I'm going to be cutting down on the amount of material appearing on the main page in a couple of ways. In the first place: No more Readings. These are simply getting to be too hard to find, especially with the the short lifespan of so many creative writing websites on the internet. This past year alone saw the end of the Danforth Review, a solid provider over the years, as well as several others. Finding interesting links every week was turning into a chore, and sometimes even a hassle. For now I haven't decided what to do yet with the old Anthology space, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

The other thing I will be losing is the section of daily links. Though not as much work, this stuff just doesn't interest me any more. I spend no time reading any of the litblogs, and don't pay much attention to book news. As I've said before, what passes for book news these days is really nothing more than gossip and advertising, a trend that reached some kind of nadir in 2009 when a publisher's press release - and this is all it was - raving about Yann Martel's new book was picked up by the Canadian Press and retailed as a "story." Come on. And how many commentaries do we need on the subject of e-books anyway? Hasn't everything been said?

Well, perhaps not quite. The one story that I did think was significant and worth following this year had an e-book connection. This was the growing controversy over book pricing. The culture of free promoted by the internet, the culture of cheap promoted by giant retailers, and the promise of ever-greater discounts through technology have combined to threaten the very viability of the publishing industry. It's not just newspapers and magazines that are now threatened with extinction. How low can the price of a book go? Especially considering the fact that any book in the public domain, which is all of the classics, essentially has no value whatsoever. Here is one trend to keep a close eye on. 

As a result of these changes, this site will be a leaner, but hopefully not meaner, operation. The focus will be on what I've always believed should be the only focus: The books themselves. Hence, more reviews. In a year when review space continued to shrink - including the demise of the venerable Kirkus Reviews - I think it's more important than ever that the internet try and pick up some of the slack. Thus far we've done a poor job. Despite all the championing of the internet as the new source for reviews, this hasn't happened (customer reviews appearing on Amazon being the significant exception). Nor do I expect this to change. Given the nature of the medium, criticism will always have to take a back seat to things like social networking and finding ways to run more ads. That's certainly not a direction I'm heading in - having gone from being a pioneer to a bit of a conservative in the last ten-plus years online - but I've grown comfortable with my cultural isolation.

It's customary to end the year with a list of highs and lows. I often get asked to suggest names for these and usually pull a blank. This past year was no exception. A couple of new books that stood out, however, were David Nickle's Monstrous Affections and Jason Guriel's Pure Product. An Honourable Mention list would include a half dozen others. The rest is already beginning to blur. Especially among the books I actually got paid to review. There must be a lesson for me in there somewhere.

But enough with looking back. It's time to begin the adventure of another decade of books. The rest of the world we can let slip. 

Best wishes for a safe and happy New Year,

Alex Good