When University of Memphis faculty, students and staff take their holiday break on Dec. 16, many will take the time to shop, sleep in and catch up on other tasks. Some will even read books.
The recent heated political campaign has drawn numerous readers to books written by former politicians and members of the media.
Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" holds the number one spot on Amazon.com's 100 list. Titled "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," it is a satire of everything political in the United States.
"Because of the heated campaigns, the political books are out with great frequency and are very popular right now," said Ann Delphin of the circulation department in the Memphis Central Library.
She added that right now the library is constantly lending the newest and most popular titles, especially now around the holiday season when people have more time to read.
"For the popular titles, we never, ever seem to buy enough titles," she said.
At least one staff member at The U of M has her booklist made for the holiday break.
"I really want to read 'Cold Mountain', mainly because I'd like to read the book before I see the movie," said library assistant Marcia Hunt-Benjamin. She also listed John Grisham as her favorite author and is looking forward to reading some of his works.
While Hunt-Benjamin is enthusiastic about getting some books read over the break, students expressed little or no interest when asked about holiday reading.
Other works that are popular right now around the holiday season are biographies, classical works and non-fiction.
"Bill Clinton's new biography along with other recent biographies about past presidents like Ben Franklin, (John Quincy) Adams and George Washington are doing well around the holidays," Delphin said.The Washington biography, titled "His Excellency: George Washington" currently ranks seventh on the Amazon list.
Also featured is "Faithful," the newest book from Stephen King. It is a collaboration with Stewart O'Nan about the historic season of the Boston Red Sox. With a range of such popular books in the genres of politics, sports and biographies, there is plenty to choose from during the holidays.
With such a demand for popular books around the break, libraries provide an inexpensive way to read the favorites.
"Obviously, if someone pays taxes or a fee they might as well use the services they have. Buying books would almost be like paying for something twice," Delphin said.
Instead of a parking space and shopping cart, shoppers this holiday season are opting for a desk and a mouse.
Convenience has become top priority for shoppers around the world as online shopping competes against the strength of brick and mortar retailers for the holiday dollar.
The amount of money spent on products in e-stores is higher than ever before, and last month showed a staggering example of the industry's growth.
Consumers spent $8.8 billion in November, a 19 percent increase compared to the $7.4 billion spent in November 2003, according to Nielsen NetRatings' Holiday eSpending Report.
Clothing topped the list of online spending for November at $1.5 billion, followed by toys/video games at $1 billion, then video/DVD at $882 million, books at $621 million and music ranked fifth at $481 million.
As holiday spending is at its pinnacle, consumer demand for expediency is quickly becoming a target of retailers and 24-hour marketplaces.
"One of the things that has happened is that companies have learned to combine the benefits of their regular stores and their Web sites," said Dr. Mark Gillenson, professor of Management Information Systems and co-developer of The U of M master's program in E-commerce.
In "The Hybrid clicks and bricks business model", published by Gillenson and Pattarawan Prasarnphanich in 2003, retailers are strategizing better shopping environments by combining the strengths of Internet and walk-up shopping.
The model shows that retailers are taking a major disadvantage of online shopping - the return policy - out of the equation. More stores are allowing shoppers to return online merchandise to the actual store, and in some cases repair it.
Other strategies outlined by the model include printing order vouchers, in-store Web kiosks and online order pick-up at local store to name a few.
With the demanding life of a student, the ease of online shopping is welcomed.
"I do a lot of shopping online," said Rachel Samuels, senior music history major. "I'd probably say about 80 percent of my shopping online because I don't have a car and I really don't like malls. It's like a mile-long line and then you have the old lady looking for her coupons."Of course, online shopping is not the best alternative to malls and standing retailers.
"You can see the product, touch the product and you know for sure what you're getting, whereas when you (shop) online you have to worry about whether it's exactly what you saw pictured and also whether you're going to get it on time," said Brian Ettehad, graduate accounting student.
With more consumers walking to their computer instead of the store, the threat of identity theft is very serious, but that doesn't deter Samuels.
"I've had someone steal my identity before, they stole my purse, around the holiday season two years ago," she said. And as for halting her online shopping habits? "Absolutely not."
