Heads and Tails and Book Sales

Barbara Fister's excellent blog post, THE TAIL THAT WAGS THE TAIL, raises interesting questions about how we decide what to read and whether or not more people are influenced by popular opinion now than ever before. I haven't rehashed what Barbara had to say, because she said it so well already, but I am curious about what influences people, and what people think of the articles Barbara references in her post. Her post is one that deserves some discussion.