Pittsburgh Post-Gazette books editor Bob Hoover comments on the challenges facing Borders and its ilk, following the decision of Los Angeles Times managers to merge the paper's Sunday books section with its opinion pages.

"The Internet ... is where book coverage and reviews should be headed," he says. He also says that the LA Times' move doesn't spell disaster for booklovers.

There's no reason to doubt that it will drop its focus because it's no longer a separate part of the paper. Plenty of U.S. newspapers continue to offer reviews and commentary on books in other sections, so we can assume the Times will do likewise.

"There's a void out there," he says. What about all the book blogs that are thriving in cyberspace? Like many in the industry, he just doesn't get it.

Publishers are starting to, though. Blogs Condalmo and Book Fox both scored review copies of Murakami's new novel, After Dark.