reading artists: an etsy love affair

i used to have a thing for bookmarks. in fact, i used to buy a new bookmark every time i bought a new book. these days my bookmarks are more of the “old receipt” variety. but that doesn’t mean i can’t covet this:

wicked witch bookmark by mybookmarks

if i haven’t said this already, i think etsy is the bees-knees, bomb-diggity of online shopping. whenever i want to drool over stuff i can’t afford or indulge myself to buy, i go to etsy.

one of the things i love about etsy is that it reminds me that people who love books also make stuff. bookish stuff. like, for instance, this book necklace:

book necklace by pegandawl

for those of us who hold books close to our hearts, what’s a more obvious expression of that than this? (this benjamin franklin necklace is pretty cool too) and, speaking of hearts:

i left my (heart) in the library by paper pastries

i don’t frequent libraries very often because i have a thing against due dates (i miss them), but i understand the sentiment all the same. besides, “i left my heart in the bookstore” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. nor does “i left my heart on amazon prime (free shipping!)”.

i love surrounding myself with bookish things (and books) especially in the fall and winter. so i guess it’s no surprise that i broke down and bought one of these babies last year:

J. Austen Persuasion mug by brookish

i also bought this. every sip of tea out of one of these babies is a little sip of joy (guess what i’m sipping out of as i write this). finally, there’s this Les Miserables book scarf, which just looks lush and lovely (probably like the book, though i haven’t read it):

les miserables book scarf by storiarts

there’s also a Jane Eyre and a Pride and Prejudice scarf. i love the idea of girding my neck in literature. especially when it’s done this classily.

but more than anything, i love the fact that people – nay, artists – made these beautiful things in the first place.  like i said, it’s a great reminder that people who love to read do other things too. even when they’d rather be reading.

an industrial bookshelf and a (short) word on bolano

well, this is pretty cool. this industrial pipe bookshelf looks like it would be the perfect size for my ‘to read’ books. but i couldn’t help but notice that that copy of The Savage Detectives (which i sort of abandoned a couple of months back)* is upside down . . .

Industrial Pipe Bookshelf from DirtyBils

* i was floored by parts of bolano’s 2666. but there’s something about bolano’s writing that i find exhausting. i think i was annoyed with The Savage Detectives’ lack of plot. also bolano’s characters never seem like real people to me. or at least not people i understand. and also, i don’t find poetic movements all that dramatic. which is to say that i found The Savage Detectives (or, the first third, at least) kind of . . . boring.

i might pick it up again. but probably not for a while. i have to force myself to read enough uninteresting material as it is. when i read for pleasure, i want it to be just that – pleasure. if i’d rather play a game on my phone than read the book in my bag, then it’s probably time for me to get different book.