From-the-Editors-Desk

Shopping—the Final Week
December 20, 2009


For this final column on holiday shopping for book lovers, readers and all manner of literary aficionados, I have gone all out to find a wide variety of items. The only caveat I should note is that most of them will have to be ordered online, and at this late date you’ll probably have to pay for expedited shipping if you expect to give it on Christmas.

Up first is something that will appeal to the bookshelves lover in all of us: Shelftalkers, the tags you see on bookstore shelves that identify genres or talk about the book or author. The store offers online templates that you can download for the perforated sheets that come with any order. You can add designs, colors, use various fonts and so on to make the tag as unique as you like. The only downside I can see is that there is an aluminum piece that slides under the books on the shelf to hold it in place; the potential to make one side of a book slightly higher than another can cause damage over the long term. 

Penguin Books is famous for, among other things, their logo. The black-and-white bird lodged in the orange oval is as recognizable to many readers as Mickey Mouse is to children. Penguin knows this, and has a store in its website that offers a lovely selection of goodies ranging from their classic tote bag (which I have!) to personalized editions (with your inscription and photo) in favorite classics. The British store has more has more for sale, and some of it is decidedly fun. Deck chairs with fabric to match the Penguin Classics editions, mugs, journals, pencils, with the same designs, even a lovely set of tea towels.

Overseas you can find  nice array of items from the British Library including this particularly lovely  mug or any number of other gorgeous items including a facsimile of Shakespeare’s First Folio of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol cards (for next year, maybe?) plus many other items.

Wonderful Graffiti is a store with a wonderful idea for a wall enhancement. These are a form of removable, non-destructive stencil art that are easy to add or remove. READ is my favorite, and I am on the verge of ordering it in satin gold (one of numerous colors available).

Fans of posters and reading will love this. All Posters has 236 posters that relate specifically to reading and/or books. These reproductions range from classical paintings to quirky pop art. Their posters are exceptionally well done so its worth a search here if you are looking for a gift for someone who loves them as wall art.

Novel Keys is one of your more unusual gifts shops. They specialize in key chains with miniature book replicas. Each replica is approximately one inch square. The front cover is engraved with the author’s name and either a portrait or an illustration related to the work, the back has the author’s last name and a quote, and both are surrounded by an attractive border. Prices are extremely reasonable.

From a website called Girls Explore comes American Women Authors Card Game, which is actually a standard deck of cards that has information about important women in history. Each card provides details of her accomplishments and an insight into her life.

This seems weird to me, but on the chance that someone you know might love it, may I present the Bed Book. These are books that are printed sideways so that those of us who read on our sides in bed can more easily read the words. It wouldn’t work for me because you still have to hold the book open and, let’s face it, that’s the tiring part. You also have to read the books at an angle still not entirely in alighment with your head and neck, just a different one. Perhaps most important, there are only 24 books, and they not only look alike but are, frankly, dull.

Goodnight Moon, that wonderful children’s story, now comes as a mini-cube puzzle. It’s definitely cute, and is good for those ages three and up. For even younger children who love to draw in their books—at who didn’t at that age?—these blank board books are perfect! Children can draw and write their own stories and even, if desired, create their own bookmarks.

Magazine subscriptions are good, especially if they feature high-quality writing. Among those who do are Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, New Yorker, The Sun, Witness, Agni, Alimentum (for those who love food), The King’s English, Tin House, and many more.

I am crazy for bookmarks, and if you are too or if your significant other turns green at the thought of dogearing a book, these bookmarks will be a dream gift. In My Book bookmarks are paper (and therefore inexpensive) but they are exquisite! This gorgeous Tree of Life bookmark is worth swooning over.

This website is perfect for those who are undecided. Though located in the UK, it has a dozen categories: Books Turned Into Things; Jewellry; Fun and Games (try The Great Penguin Book Chase Board Game); House and Home (an Alphabet Ice Cube Tray, anyone?); Accessories (an Uppercase Scarf, or even a lowercase one); Clothing; Stationery; Book Cover Poster (ooh!); Book Chairs; Bookplates; Bags; Reading Aids.

More ways to wrap your favorite book lovers’ gifts include this gorgeous paper or this one. And here’s more wrapping paper made of Penguin spines or Penguin covers!

Young or young-at-heart Jane Austen fans: how about these paperdolls ? Eight dolls and forty-eight period costumes are perfect for an afternoon tea, a ride in the countryside, or even just decorating your bookshelves.

Reading in the bath is one of the finest ways to relax, but most readers have had the experience of dropping a book in the water. With this bath caddy, that danger can come to an end—wonderfully.

One of the finest ideas I heard of was actually a Valentine’s Day gift to a friend. She’s the reader in the family so he bought her a dozen long-stemmed red roses and attached bookstore gift cards to each stem with a red ribbon. How perfect is that? (Guys, here’s a hint:  it was perfect.) And it would work for Christmas too.

Looking for gifts for writers? How about this “How to write a story Necklace”? If you’re feeling generous, you might want to look into giving your writer a trip to a great writers’ conference. Or a gift certificate for a massage to ease those aching shoulders from hours at the computer. Maybe even a new biography of her or his favorite writer. If you are really budgeting tightly, what about putting together a list of useful and entertaining links? Whatever you do, don’t buy a “how to” book on writing unless it has been specifically requested (exception: Stephen King’s On Writing).

All of us here at BiblioBuffet—Nicki Leone, Lev Raphael, Laine Farley, Pete Croatto, Lindsay Champion, David Mitchell, Henry Carrigan, and I—wish all of you a happy, peaceful, calm, and truly happy holiday season. A safe one too. Please take care of yourself by not trying to do everything. Take time each day to pick up a book while sip a cup of something warm and nourishing. Make the holiday good for you and for those around you. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. 

Upcoming Book Festivals:
Unfortunately, there are none coming up this week. 

The Pub House:
Cleis Press publishes, as they note on their home page, “provocative, intelligent books in the areas of sexuality, gay and lesbian studies, erotica, fiction, gender studies, and human rights.” So this publisher is not for the timid. However, if you enjoy  strong stories and excellent  nonfiction, you can find it here. Among their series titles are Best Lesbian Erotica and Best Gay Erotica (the 2010 editions are out now), reprints of classic pulp novels, and other sexual stories and issues.

But this publisher goes beyond the physical with books like The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade, Jasmina Tesanovic’s diary of living in the city after NATO began bombing Yugoslavia. Her diary entries were sent to a friend in Sweden who posted them first on a magazine where they were picked up and sent around the world before being gathered into a book. Jia, is a novel about North Korea, the story of a girl whose mother died in childbirth and a father who was “disappeared” for owning foreign books. She grows up in a North Korea mountain gulag where her grandparents had been sent for punishment for their son’s treason. Smuggled out, she negotiates multiple dangers, dangerous political winds, deceptive as well as kindly compatriots until she makes the decision to attempt an illegal entry into China. The novel is based on author Hyejin Kim’s true family experiences, and this is its first English translation.

Of Interest:
This single blog post on a bookmark caught my attention because I love the image. It comes from, as one commenter noted, On Reading, the collection of black-and-white photographs shot by André Kertész of people reading. It should make you smile—and if your library is a bit messy, make you feel better.

This Week . . .

In case you missed this in the New York Times I wanted to draw your attention to “Looking Over the Shoulder of the Creator of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ ” It’s an extraordinary opportunity to be able to look over all sixty-six pages of the manuscript pages of Charles Dickens famous holiday story, and to see the scratchings, cross-outs, and other changes the author made as the manuscript moved toward publication.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren

 

 
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