# 1 - BY THE BOOK

9th February 2005

It's damn near impossible for any book lover to walk into a bookstore and walk out without a book. But with writers and publishing houses turning so prolific, it's quite a task knowing what new book or author would be a great pick. As a result, a graveyard of unread, half read, never-to-be-recommended books haunts every bedside.

Maybe the problem is the new age departmental book store that caters to all and sundry, that in a bid to stock the floor, employs sales staff that don't read the books they sell or watch the movies they peddle. As compared to serious reader stores (thank heavens for them) like Strand and Premier, who always have a recommendation or a quick warning shake of the head before the bill has been made. Along with of course the generous 20% off.

I was wondering, if perhaps, the new stores, bereft of such good counsel, could hire avid readers and ask them to reviews books, old and new. Perhaps there could be a common rating for the store and a panel of chosen readers (or anyone who buys books from the store), could rate the books; maybe even write a pithy review on it. Or a call center number be provided so readers could call in ratings, or an online space created where reviews could be submitted.

Ratings and book reviews are commonplace now, but a bookstore encouraging it standardizes a process otherwise dependent on the likes/dislikes/whims of one reviewer, and makes a collective estimate of a book's worth. Case in point, www.IMDB.com. Also known as The Internet Movie Database. It has a comprehensive mechanism by which people all over the globe rate movies online. An average score is given to each film, and a recommendation by them is usually a safe watch.

Bookstores could only stand to benefit from peer reviews and it would, in the long run, create a greater sense of loyalty. Not to mention, provide that much needed comfort to the ardent book lover whose eyebrow is raised ever so often in the hopeful anticipation of an affirmation.