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Today's front-page story about how 'special sales' — a term we've never really loved, are other sales unspecial? sad — are becoming a bigger slice of the bookselling pie details what we think are actually two distinct trends. 1. Books as accessories: "A pop-up book called One Red Dot echoed a display of polka-dotted canvas sneakers, while another title, The Persistence of Yellow, perfectly matched a strategically positioned yellow sweater" — a trend that won't be unfamiliar to anyone who's seen a ribbon-belted preppie reading Prep on the subway and 2. Megachains as cultural arbiters, a trend that won't be unfamiliar to anyone who read this article about Starbucks's choice of Mitch Albom's For One More Day as the newest recipient of the coffee monolith's coveted "halo" effect: the perception that any product they offer will convey their signature "quality, good will, trust [and] intelligence" to their "hippyish, rockish" core consumer base. (Our personal favorite aspect of this promotion is the 'personal' staff reccommendation, pictured above, that's in every Starbucks. Classy.)

To sum up, though, the article's thrust is: the book business will stay alive by treating books more like widgets than it already does, even. Yay.

Peddling Books, From the Carwash To The Boutique [NYT]