This weekend I had a mini authorpalooza, which was very nice. I'm always amazed by how smart, funny, and utterly enthralling authors can be when you see them live, and authors Lemony Snicket and Jennifer Weiner did not disappoint. In addition to getting a chance to listen to these amazing authors I also got a chance to talk to other readers about what they are reading and looking forward to reading. I also shamelessly eavesdropped on several reading conversations and came to a startling (and in my mind profound) realization:

Right now is a kickass time to be a reader.

I've thought this before and may have even mentioned it to a couple of my classes, but this weekend seemed to really clarify that thought for me. I can't think of a reading need that I or, more importantly, my patrons might have that can't be met by today's book world. Don't believe me? Check it out:

Want a cozy mystery featuring a mystery shopper who must turn amateur sleuth when it looks like she will take the fall for a crime she didn't commit? I've got one for you right here.

Interested in reading a historical masterpiece set in 526 B.C. Egypt that features a Phoenician mercenary charged with the task of saving an entire empire from internal treachery? I've got this little jewel for you.

Dying to read a searing memoir of drug addiction and recovery? Okay, Oprah has that one for you, but I could hook you up with it too (or others like it).

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. This weekend I talked to people of various ages with a variety of reading tastes, and they all seemed extremely pleased with what the book world was serving up to them on a platinum (we are so beyond silver at this point) platter. And after given it some thought, I can't remember the last time I've had a patron dissatisfied by the reading choices I've presented them with in their favorite genre or subgenre. Is it because I am that fantabulous of a reader advisory librarian? Probably not. Instead I am lucky enough to work in today's book world which is filled with an abundance of titles for me to direct my patrons to.

In my everyday life I have actually complained from time to time that there are too many good books coming out for me to be able to keep up with. Ungrateful, I know. But this does leave me to wonder if what we are experiencing is a golden age of sorts for readers. Publishers are pulling out all the stops to meet our ever changing moods and tastes, and the result is a little something for everyone. And that's great, right?

The answer to that leads me to my current angst of the day. I'm not so sure it is great that we have so much available to us as readers. While it may be fine for now, what's going to happen several years down the road? Will we hit a point where publishers have tried to meet too many tastes at once to their own harm? Will readers become disenchanted with what is offered to them if/when the book world has no new concepts to offer? Or worse, will one genre or subgenre emerge as the victor, leaving readers with only one kind of story to read?

While I sometimes joke that publishers could stop publishing books right now and I would be okay for reading material for the rest of my life, I don't think I would like living in such a world. Not that I think this would happen (God forbid). The possibility of it happening though is more than a bit alarming. I know that this golden age of reading will reach its inevitable pinnacle and subsequent decline. I know I should appreciate what I have right now. But I can't help but worry about that decline. After all, worrying is what I do best.

Am I alone in this, or do others also worry that the books they enjoy will eventually go away?

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