Little Librarian Kit February 18, 2011

Ohhhhh! This is so cute! The Little Librarian kit provide children with everything they need to start their own little library. It even comes with little check-out cards! Little Librarian was selected as a finalist for the Disney Family Fun Magazine Toy of the Year Award for 2010. I can see why, this is great! The package includes 7 mini file folders, 15 book pockets, 15 book cards, 4 library cards, 4 reading awards, 2 bookmarks, 6 overdue slips, and 1 reading journal. You can learn more and/or order it here.

Interpretation of ‘The Bookworm’ October 2, 2009

The Belgium library of Kortrijk had a photo contest over the summer. People were asked to take pictures of libraries in Belgium and outside the country. The contest has ended and the winners have been announced. I was particularly interested in the picture of Roos Debrabandere. She went to Poland and took a photo in a restaurant in Krakow. She named the photo “Eat first, read later”. This is the photo:

You might recognize the paint work on the wall. The original painting was made by German Painter Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885), called The Bookworm. Spitzweg made the painting in 1850 and has become quite famous. (Click here to learn more about this artist.) This is what the original artwork looks like:

I love what the owners of the restaurant did with their wall. How they made their own culinary interpretation of this famous bookish painting. It will definitely provide a book lover with a great view whilst enjoying their dinner. Unfortunately I am unable to tell you the name and address of the restaurant. If and when I find out, I will post an update.

If you like to see all the entries of the contest, you can click here. The photo of the restaurant did not win by the way. Probably because it wasn’t a picture of a library, as asked for. If you follow the link you will see the photo that did win.

Authors on Twitter September 5, 2009

Twitter seems to be the newest big thing around. I have not made a ‘ tweet’ in my life and I am not planning to do so to. Why should anybody care about my daily stuff? I would be interested to see what my favorite authors are up to. Luckily, some reading enthusiasts have compiled a list of writers that use Twitter.

You can find the first list here, and the second one by clicking here. If you find any other good lists, please post it in the comments so others can enjoy it too.

Book holders September 4, 2009

Do not ask me why, but for some reason people feel the need to use ‘book holders’ whilst reading. This product, available in many shapes and sizes, keeps your book open when enjoying a book. I have written about a couple before.

Whilst browsing the web to find you some nifty gadgets, I was quite amazed by the variety of book holders I bumped into. I will show you some I have come across. To me, this gadget is a mystery. Why do people need a device to keep their book open? It seems more inconvenient to me then handy. Besides that, I am worried about the damage a thing like this can do to a book.

If you use one and are happy with it, please leave a comment and tell what you find useful about it. I have to say, I have a book stand in my kitchen. Too keep my cookbooks standing and open whilst preparing something during cooking. But that is a somewhat different product. In any case, here is a small overview of what is for sale.

BookGem Book Holder. Click here to find out more.

Gimble Paperback Book Holder. More info here.

FlipKlip Treadmill Book Holder. To learn more, click here.

Easy Grip Book Holder. To be found here.

Burning Book July 29, 2009

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.

Bookish Tattoos June 28, 2009

For quite some time now, I’ve been thinking about getting a bookish tattoo. I do not have any tattoos and take the matter very seriously. This is why I do not have any yet. For some (weird) reason it just appeals to me to have my biggest passion on me. As an everlasting work of art, because that is how I view tattoos. A work of art. That is, if they are done by a proper artist.

To get inspired I have been searching the web for people with bookish tattoos. I found out that there are not many. (Loving books and tattoos apparently do not go together…) It seemed like a fun idea to post some of the bookish tattoos I found. You can see them by clicking ‘more’ at the bottom of this post. I’m curious to your response to them. If you are thinking about a book related tattoo, please post about it in the comments. If you are not sure yet, like me, this might be something for you.

If you are the owner of some bookish ink, please send me a picture of it. (Click here to mail me.) I will post the photo’s in a separate topic.

The smell of books June 18, 2009

Some people call me weird, but I love the smell of old books. Often, I get funny looks at book markets or in a shop that sells antique books. I tend to stick my nose between the pages and have a good sniffle. The best ones have this sweet scent to them, instead of the aroma of old socks.

As if they knew of my ‘strange’ habit, two readers have e-mailed me an interesting link. (Thank you Roger and Mary Jo!) I love how the makers of the website neatly point out the lack of character of an e-reader. In a very fun way they make it very clear that reading devices might be handy, but that it can never beat the experience of a real book.

If only the product and its five different scents were real. I would put a can in every room in the house! “New Book” for the toilet perhaps? And, o-la-la, “Classic Musty” for the bedroom maybe? Click here to see what I’m on about.

Librarian street signs January 30, 2009

How funny would it be to replace your street sign with one of these? Librarians will probably opt for the “Librarian Drive” sign. (Click here to see.) Others book lovers could go for the “Book Drive” sign. (Shown here.) I would love to have one in my hallway!

Seasonal bookish gadgets December 30, 2008

It might be a bit late, but these bookish Christmas gadgets might give you an idea for next year. I am amazed about the bookish ornaments I found. Never knew they existed! Now I am tempted to order a bunch of them online from the US to have a bookish tree next year.

Bookish ornaments

What do you think of these classic glass ornaments with a twist? Librarians will love this one, because it says: Librarians play it by the book. (Click here to learn more.) Or this one which says: Hooked on Books! (Click here.) The next ornament can be personalized! You can put a name on the little books the bookworm in the apple sits on. What a great gift this would make… Click here to see it.

Bookish figurines

Of course there are a bunch of other bookish Christmas things. I would love to receive my gifts wrapped in this fantastic paper. Have to say I would be really careful unwrapping it to save the beautiful paper. Click here to view. Lemax is a company that sells houses and figurines to make a Christmas village. They have bookish things too. Like this one (click).  The Lemax website shows other bookish things, like the bookworm to be seen here , a library (here)  and a bookstore, which I own. It sits in my library all year round since it is not covered in snow. Click here to see it.

Seasonal reading

Of course there are loads of books with Christmas stories around. How nice it would be to sit around a fireplace and read beautiful short seasonal stories and poems out loud to guests. These books have a collection of poems (click here) and stories (click here) by famous authors. They seem ideal for the purpose.

Last but not least. Check out the Christmas tree of the University Library of Aalborg . An idea for next year?

Interesting bookish stuff October 10, 2008

There are some fantastic bookish bloggers around who post very interesting bookish articles. I have been collecting them for a while, but I could not find the time to make a post on their finds. Therefor I will pay attention to all my interesting finds by fellow book bloggers in this post.

• What to think of the convent library in the Austrian Admont? It is the largest convent library in the world and it has just gone trough a huge refirbisment. Click here for the photo’s. (Found via the Dutch website “De Papieren Man. For the Dutch readers, click here to read the article.)
• If you are into the television series “Dr. Who”, you might like to know there is an episode that takes place in a library. (Found via The Shifted Librarian, click here to read the post.)
• There a quite a few songs about books. The people of The Literary Persuit wrote a post about it. Click here to read it.
• If you are a bibliophile, there are a lot of places online to meet like minded people. Click here to learn more. (Thanks to Book-a-Rama for writing about this. Click here to see the post.)

That is it for now. Happy reading!