There are sometantalizingposts over at Book World about So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabriel Zaid. Here's the official description:
In So Many Books, Gabriel Zaid offers his thoughts and observations on the literary condition: a highly original analysis of the predicament that readers, authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and teachers find themselves in today—when there are simply more books than any of us can contemplate. In this brief collection of essays, Zaid combines the business savvy of a management consultant, the meditations of a poet, and the sense of humor of an unrepentant reader.
I've got this on hold at the library, along with The Book: A History of the Bible by Christopher de Hamel, which apparently features the St. John's Bible (the first bible manuscript to be commissioned in 500 years) amid its "sumptuous feast for the eyes and mind" (Library Journal).
In the "unadulterated wow" category is the dazzling offering The Book: A History of the Bible by paleographist Christopher de Hamel, who served for a quarter century as the head of the Western Manuscripts department at Sotheby's in London. Packed with full-color representations of illuminated manuscripts, ancient scrolls, stained glass windows and early published editions of the Bible, the art takes center stage here. (Even the back cover should win an award for the most imaginative, startling religion book jacket design in recent memory.) The narrative history of the Bible's many translations and editions is also captivating, particularly the closing chapter on 20th-century biblical discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. (Publisher's Weekly via amazon)
