Saturday 30 June 2012

Julian Barnes: my life as a bibliophile

From school prizes to writing his own novels, the author reflects on his lifelong bibliomania and explains why, despite e-readers and Amazon, he believes the physical book and bookshops will survive.
The Guardian

Friday 29 June 2012

Hidden bookcase


This hidden bookcase smoothly slides on a floor-based rail (included) and conceals any room in your office or home.
Opulent Items

Thursday 28 June 2012

As if from nowhere


As if from nowhere… is an independently functioning bookcase which houses four dining chairs and two tables that when placed together become a dining table. It is intended for small living spaces or for those who wish to cater to the unexpected guest. Orla Reynolds

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Will your children inherit your e-books?


"When I think of sorting through the boxes of my grandmother's books — even the ones we couldn't keep, or didn't want — and what we found there, I am grateful not to have been handed her Amazon password instead. Among all the gifts of the electronic age, one of the most paradoxical might be to illuminate something we are beginning to trade away: the particular history, visible and invisible, that can be passed down through the vessel of an old book, inscribed by the hands and the minds of readers who are gone." npr

Friday 22 June 2012

Shelving the body

“Shelving the Body” aims to disrupt our habitual relationships with furniture and reassess the idea of the ‘user’. This subversion, initiated through a series of experimentation and trials, approaches the typology of the shelf with a physical consideration for the figure. At times, the outcomes often reduce the role of the figure to that of a ‘shelved object’, exploring the idea of mutual dependency, challenging its user, or simply taking inspiration from the figure’s presence.
Darragh Casey’s current series ‘Shelf Portraits’, created and photographed in Cork, Ireland, ‘shelves’ 3 generations of the Casey family. It focuses on the traditional role of the shelf as a device to display, portraying people significant to the artist alongside objects relevant to their own lives and personalities.
Darragh Casey Design

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Bathtub caddy


The ultimate accessory for rest and relaxation. Made from bamboo, a highly renewable resource, this expandable bathtub caddy has a built in wine glass holder and fold away book support. Overall 28 x 8.5 x 1.5" (71 x 22 x 4 cm) Extended length is 40" (102 cm) Design: Luciano Lorenzatti Umbra

Friday 15 June 2012

How to get married in a bookshop


Ben McNally Books in the heart of downtown Toronto has been the site of numerous literary events, book launches, and author meet-and-greets. But to Quillblog’s knowledge, it has never served as the site of a wedding. Until now...
More at Quill & Quire

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Book Tent


Are you a big fan of books? We mean, are you a really big fan of books. Because this is, well, it’s an enormous book. It looks like a giant has dropped his favourite best seller. Plus, it also lets you meet up with other book fans on the campsite. You can even hold book groups in your tent.
Field Candy

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Monday 11 June 2012

Plugbook



An in-house extension cord. But it has 2 power sockets, 2 USB ports to charge your devices (also iPad) and a cable which automatically rewinds (like in a vacuum cleaner). On top of that it's shaped like a book so you can always hide it in the middle of your living room.
Plugbook

Sunday 10 June 2012

Winebottle shelf

This modular shelving system calls upon the structural qualities of wine bottles. The rapidly renewable, FSC-certified Kiri boards of pressed shrubs boast a beautiful, unique pattern. The shelves come in standard sizes of 1200mm x 400mm x 20mm. Fishtnk

Saturday 9 June 2012

The Book Barge




The narrowboat – a 57′ cruiser stern – was purchased in February 2009 as a part-finished houseboat complete with power shower, barbecue stand and a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil. The transformation from living space to commercial venture was completed in three months with the help of family and friends. It is currently moored along the main shopping promenade at Barton Marina where the 42 hp engine and impressive pair of bow thrusters occasionally groan under the weight of hardback Solzhenitsyn anthologies. Or Babar the Elephant. The bookshop comprises a mix of new and secondhand fiction that tries to reflect the very best of contemporary, classic and children’s literature. Books have been carefully selected to offer a quality alternative to high street bestseller lists including, among others, specialist sections exploring topical issues, titular oddities and travel ephemera... we hope to promote a less hurried and harried lifestyle of idle pleasures, cups of tea, conversation, culture and, of course, curling up with an incomparably good Book Barge purchase…
The Book Barge

Friday 8 June 2012

Blio

Blio organizza qualsiasi spazio con semplicità e lo arricchisce di personalità. Un sistema di elementi modulari con finitura laccata bianca, ognuno con altezze e profondità diverse, per creare infiniti giochi di volumi e superfici, mantenendo una completa e facile accessibilità di tutti gli spazi interni: dai vani a giorno, frontali ed anche laterali, alle ante che si aprono e chiudono senza maniglia, grazie al sistema “push-pull”. Kristalia

Thursday 7 June 2012

Art of the Bookcase: Bookshelf book reviewed in Omaha World Herald

Johnson's book features bookshelves and bookcases shaped like cows, polar bears, the hookah-smoking caterpillar in “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” or completely abstract shapes where books rest, seemingly defying gravity. “A decent bookcase really brings a room to life in the same way that a beautiful rug or a work of art can make your first entry into a new room memorable forever,” Johnson said. “People will remember a lovely bookcase long after they've forgotten a comfortable sofa."
Omaha World Herald

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Monday 4 June 2012

Bookshelf book reviewed in San Francisco Chronicle

It's often said that the contents of one's bookshelves are very revealing, but this volume proves that how the collection is arranged may divulge even more.
San Francisco Chronicle

Sunday 3 June 2012

Paper Passion


Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine, with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl. This tells the story of a passion and a twisting plot to put the particular bouquet of freshly printed books in a bottle. This is an opportunity to celebrate all the glorious sensuality of books, at a time when many in the industry are turning against them. The idea is that is should relax you, like when you read a book, to a level of meditation and concentration. Paper passion has evolved into something quite beautiful and unique. To wear the smell of a book is something very chic. Books are players in the intellectual world, but also in the world of luxury.
UK £70.00 US $115.00 EC €88.00
Steidl

Saturday 2 June 2012

What Your Bookshelf Says About You To A Date


There’s a great and very important moment in every relationship — and Kindle be damned, it’ll stay that way — when you bring a guy or girl to your place for the first time…and they peruse your bookshelf. Are they judging you based on what they see? Yes — oh yes. And what will your books tell them about you? These generalizations will explain all...
The Date Report