The data she highlights is very interesting even if I have the knowledge gaps about the book ecosystem that prevent me from seeing the full picture. I am just reading “capitalism sucks” over and over again.
What’s depressing for me is writers seem like pawns from how these big publishing houses talk about them. So many interesting potential authors and potential books must have been discouraged from even putting pen to paper while god knows how many acres of forest have been decimated to print drivel on them comjured by hacks like Michelle Obama and her ghostwriters.
Libraries in China can ship the books you ask for to you. I don’t know how prevalent this is but I watched a CGTN video about how folks in some remote places were able to obtain books because of this.