The New Three 'R's: Reading, Writing and Recession

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that reading is a "low-cost escape from the recession." People are being more careful about spending, they're less extravagant, and thankfully they're rediscovering relatively cheap entertainment in the form of books.

What are people reading to take their minds off the new three 'R's? A fourth 'R', actually. An interesting article popped up in the New York Times on how, in this economic climate, romance novels are outselling other genres.

Vampire books are not dead--at least in Australia. Stephenie Meyer alone seems to be propping up sales.

Do you have any clever ideas on low-cost or no-cost entertainment to keep your mind off the global financial crisis? Has the GFC influenced your buying decisions?

Oh, and a HUGE shout out to my CP and good friend Stephanie Kuehnert, whose first book, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, has been nominated in the YA category of OKRWA's National Reader's Choice Awards! Well deserved, I might say! Good luck, Steph!