What is the significance of the newspaper stories that Books reads?

J.B. Books spends his last days reading a newspaper cover to cover—every article, photo, and ad. As he pores over the elements of the paper, Books recalls various moments of his life. The newspaper, therefore, is significant as a plot framing device. It serves as a catalyst for Books's memories as he reflects upon his extraordinary life prior to what doctors promise to be an excruciating end.
The newspaper stories hold a deeper, more symbolic meaning, too. First, in their sheer newsworthiness, these notable stories echo Books's desire to be the author of his own fate—namely, to decide how his life ends—and to give it a meaningful, front-page ending. Books invites three of El Paso's meanest, nastiest men to meet him at the Constantinople Saloon, and he does not intend to die alone.
Secondly, as a man dying of prostate cancer, Books takes comfort—albeit in a pretty dark way—from the newspaper's account of Queen Victoria's death. He sees a connection between his death and the queen's. Both signify the end of an era. Victoria's lengthy, conservative reign was followed by the brief reign of Edward VII, a period of change marked by modern, progressive ideas and inventions like electricity, phones, and cars becoming more commonplace.
Similarly, Books is the last great gunfighter. Wild Bill Hickock, Bat Masterson, Rowdy Joe Lowe, Doc Holliday, and Sam Bass are all done with their guns by 1901 when The Shootist takes place. Books, as Dobkins points out, is "the sole survivor." Therefore, it is not just John Bernard Books who is dying, the romance of the Old West is dying, too. The world is changing, and, for an old-school gunslinger like Books, he may be getting out at the right time.