It is my worst nightmare to see my books go up into flames, but this bookmark is quite fun! A great way to mark the page of the hot book you are reading. Click here to find out more. This bookmark reminds me of the famous book by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. A couple of days ago a new adaption of this book came out, authorised by Bradbury. To learn more about this book, go here
My friends of the website Bookstore Guide asked me to write an article related to independant bookstores. They are adding a dimension to their already fantastic website with a series of articles by people related to the book industry. I was honored to be asked to contribute.
The fruits of my labor will be published on their website this Wednesday night. I choose to write about the fixed book price agreement and what this means for independent bookstores. Please comment on the article, I’m curious to learn what you think of it. It might even start an interesting discussion! You can find the article here as from Wednesday evening. If you would be interested in writing an article in this series, please contact the people of Bookstore Guide via this e-mail address.
It has taken a while, a long while, but there are new libraries to see on Your Shelves! (Click here to go to the website.) As you know, this website is a special project of mine. Now that I’m getting back on track with Kimbooktu, I decided it was about time to post the libraries people from all over the globe have e-mailed me.
You can find seven new shelves of fellow book lovers on the site. To my utter joy, I received photo’s from people in countries that were not represented on Your Shelves! before. There are now some shelves from Mexico, Sweden, Argentina en the Philippines added to the list. I also received two libraries from the United States, from which one is located in Hawaii. You can also see another library from Singapore. At the moment, people of 23 countries are giving you a sneak peek into their personal reading room.
Keep the pictures comming! Click here to see what to do and where to send them to. You can also go there to learn more about this project.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new translation of “Time was soft there” by Jeremy Mercer in my native language, Dutch. (See here.) The Dutch publisher gave it the title: A bed between the books (Een bed tussen de boeken). I just read it and I can recommend it to anyone who loves bookshops in general and Shakespeare and Company in Paris in particular.
Since I’ve recently been to the shop, I could picture the adventures of Mercer in this shop vividly. (Click here to read the post about my visit to the shop.) This Canadian journalist has written a very good account of his life in the bookstore. (But not dry and matter of fact at all.) And an interesting biography of the owner, George Whitman. The style of the writing was very entertaining and quite funny at times.
I actually started reading the book this morning and finished it before dinner. I just could not lay it aside. Well, I did put it away for a moment. But just to get myself a cold glass of wine to accompany me during the last chapters. In spirit of the book. I started to envy Mercer quite early on in the book, even though he lived in poverty and not very hygienic to say the least. He did live the bookish life style to the fullest. In the best shop in the world.
As the chapters moved on – or should I say ‘raced’ on – my envy changed into sheer jealousy. The life lessons he learned at the shop changed his life. He made true friends. “Sucked the marrow out of live”, to quote Thoreau. For Mercer, Shakespeare and Co were his woods. The book is a beautiful tale that proves that books sometimes truly are more important than food.
More information on the Dutch translation, “Een bed tussen de boeken” can be found here. I hate reading translations, because they are usually not very good. This one is, I have to say. Click here
