ITEMS of INTEREST

with contributions from Colette M. Jenkins

"READERS SEEKING COMFORT during tumultuous political and economic times have increasingly turned to religion and spirituality titles as a source of comfort. Eighty-three percent of book buyers said they bought a religion/ spirituality book in the past 12 months, according to a Publishers Weekly religion book buying study ....

"Joe Powers, executive vice president of Christian publisher Thomas Nelson lnc., said [that] aging baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1965), the rise of the politically conservative movement, and the expanded real estate provided by large chain book retailers also boosted consumer demand for religious and spiritual titles. . . .

"The reasons people say they are buying religious books include escalated interest in learning more about the subject (48 percent), wanting to find a higher presence (30 percent), and discovering a life purpose (29 percent)."

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