Friday 26 February 2016

Literary Trumps


As well as running Bookshelf and Shedworking regular readers know that I have also published various books over the last half dozen years, the last two on Bookshelves and Improbable Libraries. This year, instead of a book, it's a game - Literary Trumps. I am hoping to crowdfund this via the excellent book publisher Unbound which crowdfunds all its titles (you may have read the best-selling Letters of Note or the Booker short-listed The Wake).

The game is played along similar lines to other Trump games you will have played in your youth, only instead of classic cars or dragsters, Literary Trumps is all about writers, their quotability, their ouptut and their speed. Please do click on the links above for more information and do consider making a pledge to fund it - the whole thing will only happen if 500 people generously put their hands in their pockets.

Thursday 25 February 2016

Ernest Shackleton bookshelf in Antarctica

"It is now known that the explorer carried with him dictionaries, encyclopaedias and books chronicling other dangerous polar expeditions. He took established works by Dostoyevsky and Shelley - but also, explains Alasdair MacLeod from the RGS, newly published fiction by popular authors of the time."
BBC

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Betty's Reading Room


A couple from Orkney have created an unusual memorial to friend who died unexpectedly. Betty's Reading Room has been created in a once derelict bothy in Tingwall in the Orkney Islands. Craig Mollison and Jane Spiers said they wanted to create a fitting tribute to their friend Betty Prictor.
BBC

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Shopping for bookcases

Bookcases say as much about you as the books you read. So which style to choose? An interior designer offers some suggestions.
The New York Times

Monday 22 February 2016

Albero bookcase

The bookcase comprises just a few ingeniously interconnected elements, which show Gianfranco Frattini's attention to the laws of statics and dynamics. It has four vertical struts and two rack and pinion poles at the two ends, all crafted from solid olive wood. The shelves, produced in MDF with olive essence veneer, can be positioned in the holes along the struts as desired with a minimum of eight and a maximum of 12 shelves. A special metal cylinder is attached to the ceiling to hold the bookcase in place. The Albero's frame is attached to this and the floor thanks to two adjustable metal ferrules that ensure its stability. The height of the bookcase can vary between 2.66 m to 3.26 m.
Poltrona Frau

Monday 8 February 2016

Thursday 4 February 2016

Ebook sales falling

Ebook sales for the UK’s five biggest publishers fell in 2015, according to a new report in the Bookseller, collectively declining 2.4%, to 47.9m units. It is the drop in numbers of books sold in this medium for the “big five” since the digital age began... “For those who predicted the death of the physical book, and digital dominating the market by the end of this decade, the print and digital sales figures from the big five for 2015 might force a reassessment,” wrote the Bookseller’s features editor Tom Tivnan.
The Guardian