Category Archives: USA

The Carrier of Ladders

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

This week the two-time Poet Laureat of the U.S. and two-time Pulitzer prizewinning poet W.S. Merwin died at the age of 91. One of America’s best known and loved writers, Merwin managed to weave themes of spirituality, politics, relationships, and … Continue reading →

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Free Books For Travelers

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Hub City Books and the Hub City Writers Project in Sparatanburg, S.C., have launched Free Books for Travelers, a new community outreach project. Travelers passing through the Sparta Passenger Center are encouraged to take a free book along for the … Continue reading →

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Awful Books

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

One of my guilty pleasures is checking in periodically with this hilarious website dedicated to really terrible books. The Awful Library Books blog is the passion project of two professional librarians from the State of Michigan. Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner collect … Continue reading →

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Coast to Coast by Train and Plane

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

These days it takes about 5 hours to travel coast to coast across North America, but in 1929 the fastest route took at least 48 hours. This very cool map was given to passengers who traveled on Transcontinental Air Transport … Continue reading →

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Fool The Eye

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I am always on the lookout for interesting book art. So, I was excited to stumble upon the amazing trompe l’oeil cover art work from Steve Wolfe. Using paper, linen, wood, paint, and ink Wolfe created fabulous copies of famous books that … Continue reading →

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The Wordless Novel

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Created by artist Lynd Ward, God’s Man is the first American wordless novel. Published in 1929 by Jonathon Cape and Harrison Smith in New York, the book is an example of the wordless novel, a narrative genre made of only … Continue reading →

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A Change is Going To Come

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

For decades, U.S. citizens traveling to most European countries have been exempt from visa requirements. Sadly, this ends on January 1, 20121, when all Americans traveling to any Schengen Zone nations will need an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) Visa. … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Tourism, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Fun With Maps

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who regularly visit TBTP know how fond I am of maps—both real and fictional. New York City-based artist Jake Berman does deep dives into archives and library collections to discover historic plans and engineering documents from municipal … Continue reading →

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Libros Para el Viaje (Books for the Journey)

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Libros Para el Viaje is the brainchild of Denise Chávez owner of Casa Camino Real Bookstore in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Since the summer of 2018, she has been collecting books and distributing them to refugees at the southern U.S. border … Continue reading →

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Wise Men Fished Here

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

In 2005, the legendary Gotham Book Mart in New York City closed its bricks and mortar store. By 2007, the iconic Manhattan bookseller was out of business for good.  Fortunately, the University of Pennsylvania was gifted much of the contents … Continue reading →

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