Rare Books, Rare Bookstores

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has launched an ILAB Mobile App which is now available in the Apple Store and the Android Market. Search for “ILAB rare books” or “International League of Antiquarian Booksellers” to find the free App ready to install on your phone. A Blackberry version will follow soon.

“ILAB represents 1,850 of the World’s best booksellers dealing in fine, rare, old and collectable books in all fields. Search for them and their books. If you are away on business or pleasure with an hour or two to spare: use the locator to find the nearest dealer to wherever you are and get directions by foot, car or public transport. Use the ILAB App to access the ILAB website and find a veritable goldmine of information for the collector, librarian, dealer or anyone who just loves or is interested in fine and rare books, maps and manuscripts. Find out the dates and locations of upcoming antiquarian book fairs, lectures and exhibitions around the World. “

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Rotterdam Tries Harder

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Let’s be honest, Rotterdam is not the Netherland’s most attractive city or prime tourist attraction. It’s a vibrant and exciting cultural center, but it lost most of its historic buildings due to World War II bombings. These days, however, Rotterdam has become a hotbed of modern architecture and design, making it a fascinating city to visit.

The currently under construction Rotterdam Market Hall is the latest in a series of cutting-edge building projects that we’ve come to expect from bustling Rotterdam. Designed by MVRDV architects, the enormous, towering 100,000 square meter tunnel-shaped building will combine a green market, restaurants, shopping and residences under one giant roof. The apartments will have spectacular views from windows overlooking the marketplace.

The Market Hall is being built at one of the largest open urban squares in the Netherlands near the massive new library and the historic 15th century Sint-Laurens Church, Rotterdam’s only remaining medieval church.

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Occupy Libraries

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

In December, 2011 The Detroit Public Library Commission voted to close four branches of the city library. Some library-loving Detroit 4th graders decided to take matters into their own hands and fight back.

The 4th grade class at Detroit’s Marcus Garvey Academy, with help from University of Michigan instructor Melanie Manos, designed an alternative library for their community. The students built and installed waterproof bookcases for their outdoor library and set-up in front of a shuttered local library branch. After an outpouring of local support, the kids created five more free outdoor libraries. Each operates on the honor system and is sustained by donated books.

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First Cut Is The Deepest

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Michigan-based artist Thomas Allen creates exceptional lively and entertaining illustrations using figures that he cuts and folds from secondhand and castaway books. Some of his earlier book art was based on the always saucy cover art from pulp fiction paperback novels of the 1950s and 60s. His newest work is more lighthearted, less provocative, but still very clever. Check-out his website to learn more .

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Blade Runner is not Science Fiction

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

In 1981, Philip K. Dick saw a television show featuring a segment about the soon to be released Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, based on his iconic novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. In response he wrote an impassioned letter to the Ladd Company, producers of the movie. Somehow that 30 year-old letter has recently surfaced. And like a good Blade Runner fanatic, I have to share it with you.

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Books Nights and Day

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

April 23rd is a big day (and night) for book lovers and bibliophiles around the world. Since 1995 the day has been designated by UNESCO as World Book and Copyright Day in honor of the birth and death of Shakespeare and the death of Miguel Cervantes in 1616. And since last year, the date has been celebrated as World Book Night.

The annual World Book Night celebration was begun in the UK and Ireland in 2011 and has now spread to the United States and Germany. During WBN this year, 25,000 volunteers will each give away 20 books in their communities. A half million specially printed copies of 30 different titles will be distributed tonight. Nearly 750 bookstores and libraries will be holding WBN events.

World Book Night is a great opportunity to celebrate and spread the joy of reading, the love of bookstores and to treasure the printed book. This year’s list of titles are all wonderful examples of books to share and cherish. Some of my favorite titles this year are: The Namesake, The Lovely Bones, The Glass Castle, The Book Thief, and The Things They Carried.

What are your favorites ?

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City2Cities

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

City2Cities: International Literature Days Utrecht is an exciting international literature festival. Each year City2Cities, in short C2C, connects the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands with two other literary cities. In 2011 those cities were Edinburgh and Stockholm, this year the guest cities are Barcelona and Prague, and in 2013 the cities will be Lisbon and Berlin. They invite the renowned writers from these cities to the Netherlands, search for new talent and try to discover on which points Utrecht and its two guest cities differ and overlap. The festival focuses explicitly on the three cities, but these cities also represent a country, a culture and a language area. There are debates about urban literary culture with writers and translators from the three cities, stories and poems are translated and the fringe festival also has programs in theatre, music and movies. This year’s festival is being held from April 21 through 29th.

The two guest cities are primarily chosen based on their qualities as literary cities. The cities appear in many novels and poems and they have a flourishing writing- and publishing scene. Like Utrecht, they also have to have a university. Their geographical site can be a point of interest as well; cities in contrasting areas have  preference. This way City2Cities creates axes through Europe. In the period leading up to Utrecht as Cultural Capital 2018 the maintenance and expansion of the network created by City2Cities is being highlighted.  With the rich literary history of the city, the leading modern writers and poets, publishers and bookstores , City2Cities shows Utrecht to the world as the city of literature.

This year’s line-up includes: Paul Auster, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Mark Strand, Mercedes Abad, Herman Koch and Tomas Zmeskal, as well as tributes to Vaclav Havel and Franz Kafka.

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Is This The End for Sarko ?

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Well today is the first round of voting in the French elections and things are not looking up for Sarkozy. These clever pieces of street art have been turning up all over Paris lately.

Are you eligible to vote today ? Who are you voting for ?

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Visit Newark (really)

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Harlem Book Fair is coming to Newark, New Jersey for the first time and celebrating two days of literary-filled events next week. Newark Mayor Cory Booker and city leaders kicked off the “2012 as Year of Newark Literacy” campaign earlier this month from the Newark Public Library, coinciding with National Library Week.

Started in 1998, the Harlem Book Fair is billed as a large-scale, multi-cultural literary festival that has graced cities like Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York. Organizers expect the event, taking place April 27 and April 28, to draw thousands of attendees along with more tha 100 exhibitors.

Founder Max Rodriguez described the Harlem Book Fair as an “outdoor book party.” The book fair is free to the public and will be held at Rutgers-Newark at the Paul Robeson Center and the outdoor plaza.

The theme of this year’s book fair is “Let Us Read” and according to Rodriguez, publisher of “QBR The Black Book Review” based in New York, there will be a little bit of something to interest every reader. Just a few of the events on schedule include: “Art to Books”, an exhibition on book illustrators; a Hip-Hop Literature exhibit; screenings of literary films; and a huge secondhand book sale.

On Friday, April 27, events start at 10 a.m. and go until 3 p.m. and include a Young Reader’s Pavilion which focuses on children’s and young adult literature.

On Saturday, April 28, events run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, visit the website at www.harlembookfair.com.

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What’s That Smell

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

For dyed-in-the-wool bibliophiles there’s nothing quite as pleasing as the unique aroma of old books. When we enter an antiquarian bookshop or historic library, we invariably assume the soporific mien of a somnambulist. Now, our friends at Abebooks.com in conjunction with University College London have produced an informative film exploring the intoxicating effect of old book vapors. [Full disclosure: My book business has had a commercial relationship with Abebooks for many years]

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