The Death of the Book? Not Today.

With the sky falling brigade out in full force over the much rumored -- and even ballyhooed -- death of the book, it’s good to get “Some Good News from the World of Books.” McSweeney’s brings us some encouraging numbers, all wrapped up in facts, and prefaces the whole thing with a swell and sunny essay:

This has been an interesting few years for the book industry. There have been many changes and realignments, and these changes have led many to predict that (a) reading is dead; (b) books are dead; (c) publishing is dead; (d) all printed matter is dead. Or that all of the above, if not already dead, will be dead very soon.

The good news is that there isn't as much bad news as popularly assumed. In fact, almost all of the news is good, and most of it is very good. Book sales are up, way up, from twenty years ago. Young adult readership is far wider and deeper than ever before. Library membership and circulation is at all-time high. The good news goes on and on.

The piece is lengthy, well considered and expressed, and it’s here.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an actual sky is falling piece, The Telegraph reports that social media darling Twitter is “in early talks with potential buyers Facebook and Google.”

So who said the sky was not falling?