The 2012 Politics & Prose Holiday Gift Guide is out. It’s a free PDF download from their site as well. There are a gazillion good recommendations, but very few that you won’t find featured at one of Birmingham’s local bookstores. But, if you’re on this site you are probably of the ilk that enjoys scrolling through pages and pages of book covers and book reviews. I know I do.
One thing that I find particularly worrisome is the lack of books about books. The section under Biblio-graphic has one book My Ideal Bookshelf and there is also the new slipcased issue of the Book of Kells, which isn’t really about books per-se, but I think most bookish folks would appreciate the new edition as well as the place in book history that the Book of Kells holds. Anyway, this must be rectified! I am now on a mission here at the end of 2012 to chronicle the 10 Best Books about Books published this year.
Yes, I know. It is Banned Books Week here in the states. But it is also the last Buy A Friend A Book Week of 2012, which I think is much cooler. While it doesn’t carry the emotionally charged fear of being told what not to read, it’s a great idea that encourages you to match up the right book with the right friend and make it happen. That’s it. It’s that simple.
Pick a friend. Pick the book. Buy from a local bookshop. Deliver said book. It is the best of all worlds.
I have my friend picked out this time (BAFAB week happens four
times a year) and the title list narrowed down to three possible books. I just need to see what’s in stock around Birmingham. The next BAFAB week isn’t until the first week of January 2013. Until them you can follow BAFAB Twitter, though as you can tell from their tweet stream they are really only active during BAFAB weeks.
Here is one that’s a bit exotic, if for no other reason than I can not find a US distributor. So ordering direct may be your only option. I have no idea what shipping from Japan would be, but this $40 porcelain vase would be very cool on most any bookshelf.
After translating the page, you can see that it’s called the Hana Paperback planter. It’s about the size of a trade paperback. What’s really nifty is the slipcase it comes in, so when you have no flower to show you can flip it around so the spine is facing out. This would be a very unique gift for any book lover.
These are classic and absolutely beautiful. Up front know they run $90 for each 17″ shelf, but they would be so handy. I’m pretty sure that every book lover needs two. These are angled just right to serve as “presentation shelves”. So you could have your signed firsts or mini collection of Alvin Lustig‘s New Direction covers, set out so you can enjoy and your guests can take a look.
But these table top bookshelves are also portable, so you’d need one to sit on your desk to hold all of the books you need access to, on a daily basis, as you write your book (you do have a book in you. That’s not a question. You do, whether you know it or not).
Of course, if you buy three, then you’ll have to start looking for the perfect library table to go under them… hmmmm…
