Book Fest, sex and money 1

(Timp estimat pentru citirea acestui articol: 2 min)

I visited the Bookfest, because I’m generally curious to see who are the people who read, what new books are popular and to benefit from the discounts.

I was struck by two things:

– All publishing houses have books about sex, in all combinations. Of course, apart from “Kama Sutra for Beginners”, there are the famous “Trage-mi-o”, “Bagau” and “Letopizdet”. A fellow professor from FJSC said that this is a sign of desperation of the publishing houses, who are walking the thin red line between what’s valuable and what’s commercial.

– Books about self-fulfillment are popular. “How to lie to your friends without them noticing it”, “10 easy lessons to become an optimist” etc. I guess they are a good reading at the job place.

The fair was sad, almost empty and a little too dark. But maybe it was because it was raining outside. I never understand why you have to pay an entrance fee, since you are coming to buy books and since Romexpo is earning a lot of making out of these events.

Finally, I bought only three books:

– Adrian Cioroianu: Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere in istoria comunismului romanesc”, 2005, Curtea Veche Publishing ==> I was searching for a long time about this, but I admit I didn’t know it was published by Curtea Veche. A very good reading during summer.

– David Dabner: Grafic Design. Principiile si practica deisgnului graphic, 2005, RAO ==> Very useful for the PAO, Internet and Web design courses, but also for photographers. The value consists of the numerous illustrations and of the practical advices.

– David Lodge: Ganduri ascunse, 2004, Polirom ==> I became a fan of lodge and this was one of the books I didn’t read. I admire his sense of humour that doesn’t make his writing superficial.
I spent 100 RON on these three books. I also wanted to buy Paulo Coelho – Zahir on a CD, but they couldn’t give me the change for 50 RON, so I dropped it.

Just an idea: how about an online book fair, in fact a website where publishing houses could post their discount books regularly?