Among the articles and hot takes about the drastic layoffs at the Washington Post, there’s (at least) one bit of irony: Bezos made billions from selling books but the Post dropped all coverage of books, including its book section, as author Ameer Shahul noted on LinkedIn. Many newspapers used to publish book reviews and standalone book review sections.

Two decades ago, there were about 30-50 newspapers published standalone sections. Now, with the demise of the Post’s section, last year’s Boston Globe (whose section had stopped being standalone years ago) and Associated Press’s cutbacks, there’s only one newspaper that continues to publish a standalone section: The New York Times.

Twenty years ago, about 400 newspapers published book reviews in sections like “Arts” and “Lifestyles.” Today, about 40 to 60 newspapers still publish reviews. But most of these papers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Seattle Times, no longer have a book editor. It’s often a section editor who now assigns a review of a local author.

This is a problem, and not just for authors who are finding it more challenging to get attention for their books.

Non-fiction book reviews offer opportunities to discuss issues and trends beyond breaking news (when breaking news is constant and overwhelming), to go deep into a topic that news reporters don’t have time or space to cover.

Fiction and poetry book reviews offer opportunities to discuss cultural implications that are difficult to address in lifestyle coverage.

Reviews of works by local authors helped build communities of writers and interested readers. But that’s harder in an era when fewer reviews are published.

The loss of expertise for non-fiction reviews means that authors of serious and important non-fiction books will find it harder to find and engage with audiences.  And that consumers will be less knowledgeable about important topics.

People do review books on Goodreads and Amazon, and readers do check those reviews. But the demise of book reviews will be a problem for authors and readers alike.