Category Archives: Books

So you’re going to New York City

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Book lovers and bibliophiles who are heading to New York City this year will have an embarrassment of choices when it comes to special exhibitions at some of the city’s premier institutions. The Morgan Library & Museum‘s Come Together: 3,000 Years … Continue reading →

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“Sir, that is no way to treat a book!”

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

British writer and photographer Ben Schott published an essay in the New York Times Book review guaranteed to elicit a cringey response in even the most casual bibliophile. Confessions of a Book Abuser I have to admit I was flattered … Continue reading →

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Alice is back home

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Christ Church Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries have become joint owners of an exceptionally rare first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the most important of only 22 known surviving copies of the first and subsequently withdrawn edition. The book … Continue reading →

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You can’t survive on books alone

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

 

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And the 2025 lists begin

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The staff of the New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction titles. “The envelope, please: After a full year spent reading hundreds of books and meeting regularly to bicker — er, converse — about their … Continue reading →

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Change, but start slowly

Posted on November 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Change But start slowly, because direction is more important than speed. Sit in another chair, on the other side of the table. Later on, change tables. When you go out, try to walk on the other side of the street. … Continue reading →

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Dylan’s mind and other diversions

Posted on November 16, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Can AI tell us anything meaningful about Bob Dylan’s songs? What was uncovered when computer scientist Prashant Garg  fed Dylan’s official discography from 1962 to 2012 into a large language model (LLM), building a network of the concepts and connections … Continue reading →

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Do Halloween like it’s 1920

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I recently stumbled upon this fantastic vintage Halloween book filled with crafts, decoration ideas, DIY costumes, and more. The book is called Dennison’s Bogie Book for Halloween. It was written in 1920, but the activities and decorations inside can make … Continue reading →

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Top Secret

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The 1984 action comedy Top Secret! contains an odd sequence set in a Swedish bookstore. Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, and Peter Cushing acted the entire scene backward, and the filmmakers then reversed this performance to produce a dreamlike atmosphere in which … Continue reading →

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Sometimes in a pickle is where to be

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Over the years, I’ve discovered hundreds of used, secondhand and antiquarian bookshops, but none as unique as New York City’s Sweet Pickle Books.  The founder and owner Leigh Altshuler had always dreamed of opening her own bookstore, but the time never … Continue reading →

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