Out of town-ing: Michigan

Giant rolls of paper to be made into books!

Last week I went on my first business trip to visit one of our book printers! I'll admit it, I'm a big nerd. We got tours of the printing presses, the folders, the gathering machines, the binders, the stampers... it was really cool. I took so many pictures and asked my fair share of questions. It was fascinating to see how much work goes into the actual printing of a book--work done both by machine and by people.


The color mixing room.


Books go by on the belt after having the covers applied.

It was so cool. Yep, I'm a nerd.

This is awesome

Watch this video. Isn't it SO COOL?!

I'm definitely going to check this out...

A book about type? With a gorgeous cover? You had me at hello.

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield
{via The Casual Optimist}

Old library books...

...become a sweet desk! Pretty cool, huh? My brother kindly passed this on to me. I love books. Thanks Dave!

P.S. I dropped my computer this morning... I think it's okay but we shall see if the CD drive works... I'm going to add a New Years resolution to my list: back-up my computer on an external hard drive.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 to you, and you, and... you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend ringing out the old and in the new. I'll put up some pictures soon from a grand New Years Eve and a most relaxing, refreshing, reunion weekend.

P.S. I wish I had thought of making this book sculpture.

P.P.S. Someday I want to organize all my books by color. It's going to be so cool.

{by paul octavious. via swiss-miss.}

Ashley Lake + Montana

I love books because they can introduce you to new and exciting places. Places like Montana. I'm reading The Last Stand (by my favorite - Nathaniel Philbrick!) and it's all set in Montana and Wyoming and South Dakota - where I've never been! But now I'm planning my big road trip to see the sights and guess what I found in Northwestern Montana? ASHLEY LAKE. And guess what's gorgeous? Yep, Ashley Lake. So now I'm off to Kalispell, which is right by Glacier National Park, which will definitely be a stop on my trip. (And when I say "I'm off to Kalispell" this is wishful thinking. In case you were about to drive out and meet me there...)

Things I'm excited about...

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte coming my way tomorrow morning.
2. Leaving early to purchase said latte thereby avoiding being smashed on the bus with eighty other people. (No, seriously.)
3. Rain this weekend. How good does getting cozy with some blankets and a book on the couch sound?
4. Tomorrow is Fri-i-day.
5. I'm designing two book covers right now.
6. I'm currently reading this month's The Atlantic and The Last Stand by my favity fave Nathaniel Philbrick. (Which makes me feel intelligent which in turn makes me feel good about myself. Ha.)
7. Hawaii Five-O and Glee premiere next week. Cheehee!

The Book of the Month Clutch

Super cute book clutches from Kate Spade. It's an interesting idea but I'm not sure if I would actually use it? I also don't know why they're $300... See them here. [Images and find via Oh Happy Day.]

Reading List: The Shadow of the Wind & Lonesome Dove

I cannot recommend a book more highly than The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I devoured this book while on the beach in Hawaii. In addition to a powerful, entrancing story, it's one of the most well-written books I've read. It's a tale of books and mystery and romance all with the architecture of Barcelona dancing in the background. Seriously, go read it right now!


I'm currently reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty for a book club I'm in. (Live in Chicago? Want to join?) I'll admit I'm only 200 pages in (oh, by the way, it's like 800 pages long, so it's not for the faint of heart or short of attention span), but I'm already anticipating the next time I'll get to sit down with it. (Lunch break, come quickly!) It's got cowboys and deserts and adventure (at least I think there's a big adventure coming...) and even some romance. You should read it with me!

Side note related to this: In college sometimes the only thing that got me out of bed and motivated in the morning was the thought of Saga breakfasts. Thinking about triangle hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, and cheese gave me hope for the day (don't judge). This morning in the shower I was lacking motivation when suddenly I realized that once I got on the bus I could crack open Lonesome Dove and find out what happened next. Tada! Motivation.
Whatever it takes, right?

Reading List: Nathaniel Philbrick

I want you all to know about the author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick. His books are just spectacular. Philbrick has an astounding way of telling a gripping, detailed story with mounds of facts, research, and description. And his titles have won many awards and gotten much recognition. I' definitely a fan. Let me tell you about the three books I've read...

I first read "In the Heart of the Sea" in a history class at Wheaton. This book won the National Book Award. It's the true story of the whaleship Essex - the drama that the Moby Dick novel was based on. In it, a whaling ship is brought down by a whale and the wrecked crew sails across the pacific to South America. Spellbinding.

Shortly after reading "In the Heart of the Sea," I picked up "Mayflower" and ripped through it over a Christmas vacation. It (clearly) tells the story of the Mayflower and its pilgrims as well as the Native Americans living in America. So good.

I just bought this third Philbrick book, "Sea of Glory," at a tiny (and so amazing) used bookstore in Chicago and I'm sitting at my desk counting down the minutes til I get to open it again. This book tells the story of The U.S. Exploring Expedition that set out in a journey of equal importance to (and possibly exceeding) that of Lewis and Clark. Yet, most of us have never heard of it. I'm so looking forward to finding out what happens next (currently the men are battling the waves and ice of Antarctica) but I'm also afraid for it to end!

So go check out a Nathaniel Philbrick book from your local library or purchase your own copy. If you're near my hometown you can borrow my copy of "Mayflower" - but only if you promise to return it. :)

[This is the first in an official semi-regular post called Reading List. I'll use it to convince/persuade/manipulate you into reading books I think are fantastic. Sound good?]

Book covers

The other day I was wandering a bookstore, pointing out to Dave all the book covers I liked. After about three, I stopped and said, "Wait, I think I'm just pointing to all the ones with heavy typography." He just laughed and nodded. Case in point, this book, today's internet find which I think is cool. The big type gets an extra +100 from me because it's in MY FAVORITE COLORS.

[designed by Sarah Greeno. Via The Casual Optimist.]

Church pew headboard

I love this headboard! I think my love is partially related to the fantastic spot for books and reading lights. This lady made it from an old church pew. Pretty cool, right??

[via design*sponge.]

Reminders

Important reminders by Erin Hanson. (See more in the photography section of her site.)

[via swissmiss]

Gorgeous shelves!

I love this "Hold on Tight" bookshelf by Colleen & Eric. You can adjust the built in bookend according to what you've got on the shelf. And it's GORGEOUS.
[via swissmiss]

Belong to Me

I made a trip to the library today and felt compelled to check out this book. Can you tell why? (I also started it this afternoon and it's very good.) It's "Belong to Me"by Marisa de los Santos.

Happy Saturday!!

Weekend + Bat Ecology

This weekend was fantastic. I spent some time out in Wheaton and look who I found there...

I also got to see the new "BP" (aka bachelor pad aka chez Caciano) as well as celebrate with an old young friend at her bridal shower.

Oh AND, I have always wondered how the stock market worked. Not the market exactly, but all the traders and the floor and such. I think this is spawned from that great Eddie Murphy movie "Trading Places" that's always on TV. There's this scene where all the traders are standing on the floor yelling and running amuck and I've always wondered, "Is that what it's really like?" So this weekend Dave and I went to see a documentary called Floored about the Chicago trading floor. It was so interesting. And pretty much answered all my life-long questions. So that was exciting.

And, on a publishing note, every month we start up another round of reprints. This month I had to giggle when I started working on the list. "Why?" you might ask? Because of big, fat books titled "Bat Ecology." I know, I know, some people really do study that (apparently, because we publish a book about it). But it does seem a little... crazy that you can dedicate a whole book to it, no?

Ok, fine. I'm easily amused.

P.S. It's GORGEOUS outside and it has been for like four days. That means I've been wearing slippers (aka sandals aka flip-flops). That means that Ashley is a very happy camper.

Books! (what else?!)

I like this idea of using books as part of shelves... even shoe shelves!

Oh, and happy birthday to me! :)

Jane Mount + An Ode to Books

There's something about the way books line up so beautifully on shelves advertising their subjects so blatantly from their spines. I love looking at bookshelves (as you may know). I love the color and graphic mix of them all lined up. I just love books. (Good thing I'm in the industry, right?)

I've run across Jane Mount's work several times recently in my perusal of the internet and it fits well with my love of all things books + shelves. She does paintings of people's bookshelves, portraying what's on the shelf, thereby describing who they are or where their interests lie. I looked through many of her pieces and had such a hard time choosing one to put up here. I think I settled on this one because I love the whale bookend.


See them all, and Ms. Mount's other work, here.

Side note 1: I love how the New York Times refers to people in their articles as Ms. Suchandsuch or Mr. Whosywhatsit. It's so professional and respectful. Hence I've decided to do that too... as often as I remember.

Side note 2: I found these wooden lunks of bookends at the thrift store many months ago, planning to fix them up and make them look... more awesome than their lunky-ness is right now. I noticed them a few days ago and now am taking ideas for what to paint them. So far I've thought: teal (duh), yellow, or something else bright... purple? orange?

Travel with words

Cool Penguin Books ads
[via casual optimist]

Oooo book sculptures!

These are amazing!
via daily design discoveries // works by robert