As we continue waking up to daily doses of bleak and dreary news, from Gaza to bankruptcies, from  foreclosures to capsized ferries, one cannot help but get excited when a few morsels of news come tinted in a shade of pink.

This week we are particularly uplifted by a couple of stories that Titlepage tends to favor as they highlight books, authors and ideas: First, that of Barack Obama's power to push book sales upwards -- challenging Oprah Winfrey's coveted territory and, second, that of the newly released National Endowment for the Arts report whose headline shouts: Reading on the Rise! 

Of course, pessimists and negativists may turn to other entries such as the announcement that November book sales had been dismal or that a 32 year-old Hedge Fun Partner was moving in to head Borders whose stock was now worth 67 cents!