Copenhagen-based artist and psychotherapist Johan Deckmann has a knack for creating devilishly clever bogus bookcovers that are at once humorous and insightful. Here are a few examples, but you can follow his thoughtful and funny work over at his personal website.
I recently had a request from TBTP follower Bill C. from Oakland for a bookstore suggestion in walking distance from St Pancras International Station in London. Bill said that he expected to have an hour or two to kill before catching the Eurostar to Amsterdam (lucky guy) and wanted to browse a “quintessential” British bookshop. My first response was unequivocally Black Books. But since Black Books is entirely a fictional bookstore, I said that he would have to settle for Collinge & Clark Books, which stood in for the fictitious shop from the much loved Dylan Moran TV series Black Books.
These days, Collinge & Clark is owned and managed solely by Oliver Clark. The cozy small bookshop is packed with a thoughtfully curated collection. Clark’s specialties the last time that I checked were private press books, design, typography, literary first editions, and miscellaneous secondhand titles. Unfortunately, Clark seems to keep very limited weekday opening hours and is closed on weekends. So, I also suggested that Bill would be better off at Skoob Books, which is just a few minutes further walk from St Pancras. Skoob (which is just books backwards) has an enormous selection of secondhand titles in every conceivable specialty and is open daily.
Many readers consider H.P.Lovecraft to be the father of modern horror fantasy. In fact, the term “Lovecraftian” is frequently used to describe any particularly scary story, book, or film. But I’ve been surprised at the number of horror/fantasy genre fans that I meet who know little about Howard Phillips Lovecraft and have never read his original works. I recently stumble upon an excellent essay by Emma Stefansky over at the Polygon website that offers a well curated guide to Lovecraft’s writings. The article is also accompanied by superbly creepy original illustrations by Michael Bukowski. It’s well worth a read whether you are new to Lovecraft or a life-long reader.
H/t to Bonnie Kuster Butler for this post.
When is a book art ? A current exhibition at LA’s Getty Research Institute explores the many ways in which artists create objects that straddle the worlds of books and art. The show, titled Artists and Their Books/Books and Their Artists presents more than 40 exceptional examples of artists’ books that explode the definition of the “book” . The show aims to engender an open discussion of the roles that books play in contemporary culture. For more information on the exhibition, which runs through October 28th, check out the website.
I have always thought of the bookmobile as an outreach tool for rural or suburban libraries, but even the great Brooklyn Public Library in New York City still sends them into the community. The little video below directed by Steve Mallon documents the redesign of one of the library’s older models.
If like me you frequent book blogs, it’s likely that you have seen the charming, book-celebratory art work and illustrations by Hawaii-based artist and bibliophile Jane Mount. Now she has a delightful new book titled Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany coming out next week from Chronicle Books.
In the book, Mount tours bookstores, visits famous writers, curates reading lists, explores great libraries, and much more through her signature vibrant illustrations. It looks like a great gift idea for the book lovers in your life. Hint, hint.
This is what Monday morning looks like when you arrive to find the bookstore closed.
I just discovered that The English Bookshop in Uppsala, Sweden was named the bookstore of the year at the London Book Fair. It’s not surprising when you learn that founder and manager Jan Smedh personally curates the store’s stock of all English language books. The charming little shop is jampacked with more than 13,000 titles and also hosts regular author readings, book discussion groups, and other literary events.
My love affair with Uppsala began years before I even set foot in Sweden’s 4th largest city. When I saw Ingmar Bergman’s stunning film Fanny and Alexander, which was filmed entirely in the old university town, it was love at first sight. Eventually, I was able to spend sometime there one summer and made some good friends. If you ever find yourself in Stockholm, Uppsala is less than an hour north and well worth a detour. But be warned, you’ll want to stay a while.
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Travel Between The Pages 