In an effort to bring the continued plight of book reviewing as well as the changes occurring in book retailing to the attention of the wider general public, I took up the subject of the announced closing of Kirkus Reviews in my most recent “From Under My Hat” editorial column.

More bad news from the world of professional book reviewing: Publisher’s Weekly is reporting that Nielsen Business Media has announced that it will close the highly influential book review publication Kirkus Reviews as well as Editor & Publisher magazine. In publication since 1933, Kirkus Reviews publishes roughly 5,000 book reviews annually covering a wide variety of genres. Its closing will undoubtedly cause a significant decrease in the availability of professional, well-written book reviews. Editor & Publisher, the “bible of the newspaper industry” has been in print even longer; tracing its origins as far back as 1884.