I have been reading since yesterday about the backlash Terry Teachout’s comments on linkage have caused. Some bloggers have taken exception to his schoolmaster tone (I am not sure if I agree or disagree with him, but his tone did put me off) and others agree with his statements. I am not going to add my 2 cents, mostly because I am new, but also because it doesn’t seem all that important to me. Besides the Literary Saloon at the Complete Review has a nice recap of it all here. What I am troubled about is something they say at the end of the recap about using links to Amazon.com pages instead of to “some actual information about the book”. And here is why I am troubled. As I may have mentioned before, I do work for a really great independent bookstore. But I have to say that our web site is not all that great. Sometimes there is very little information about the book at all beyond the price and ISBN. What sort of links should we be providing? When I decided to start a blog, I knew that there were already a great deal of sites out there about books, and I didn’t want to just be repeating what others are saying. I don’t think I have found a ‘voice’ yet either. I sort of just blog about whatever. But I do read a lot and would like to help others choose what they want to read next. If I can provide helpful and interesting information about a book, I will try. Amazon has a lot of information on its pages, plus they have a fabulous search engine. I am torn as to whom I should be linking to. I don’t know. If anyone has an opinion, please post it.