Category Archives: Books

everything at heaven’s gate is broken up into its component parts

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“A Society of Scoundrels” by Franz Kafka Translated by Michael Hofmann There was once a society of scoundrels, or rather not scoundrels per se, just ordinary, average people. They always stuck together. When one of them had perpetrated some rascally … Continue reading →

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The Poetry of Coffee

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

As an amateur coffee roaster, I have been accused of being mildly obsessed with the magical elixir. So my antenna is always up for books about coffee. But I was not prepared to stumble upon a one-of-a-kind, single copy poetry … Continue reading →

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Commodified fantasy takes no risks

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

  “All times are changing times, but ours is one of massive, rapid moral and mental transformation. Archetypes turn into millstones, large simplicities get complicated, chaos becomes elegant, and what everybody knows is true turns out to be what some … Continue reading →

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How to act around books (according to the NYPL)

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

How to act around books.  

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The Earl of Cattenborough owns Caturday

Posted on February 18, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

THE EARL OF CATTENBOROUGH ONCE upon a time there was a miller who had three sons, Charles, Sam, and John. And every night when the servant went to bed he used to call out: “Good-night, Missus; good-night, Master; Good-night, Charles, … Continue reading →

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So You Wanna Be A Writer

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

-The narrator of the powerful video below is Tom Bedlam -The music  is Alice In Winter – Hold This Place. if it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don’t do it. unless it comes unasked out … Continue reading →

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Bookseller’s Regret

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Regular visitors to Travel Between The Pages may know that I have been a bookseller for most of the 21st century and an avid book collector for many decades. Like many booksellers, I sometimes have pangs of regret over books … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of Vampires

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

What could be more romantic on Valentine’s Day than the debonair modern vampire who was born with the publication of the gothic horror novel Dracula (1897) by the Irish author Bram Stoker. In the video below from the Victoria and … Continue reading →

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Just Another Sundry Sunday

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Old internet hands may recollect the early days of the web when it all seemed so clever and exciting. One of those interesting 1990s projects has just been relaunched and is worth a look on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The … Continue reading →

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Only in the Netherlands

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Utrecht is one of my favorite cities in the Netherlands. Fortunately it is over looked by the hordes of tourist who mob Amsterdam. Like most folks in the country, the residents of the beautiful city love bikes and books. Now … Continue reading →

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