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snek-panini · 2 months

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It's been a month since Binderary ended but I've still got books to share! This is @worse0mens's (hi!) wonderful Good Omens series, The Blossom Realm, which starts with Omens of Another Kind. This is very much a longtime favorite of mine, an AU with a really compelling combo of worldbuilding and characterization. This is a believable grand romance that's also a court drama and a fairy tale, and it's really long (the full series is about 220k words) so it will keep you reading for a long time. This is one of the fics I learned bookbinding for, and it was the first really long fic that I typeset (and redid once I learned more about typesetting). It's been a long road but it was so worth it.

More photos under the cut!

Couple of photos of the spines. The series doesn't divide easily, with one very long work, one medium-length one, and several shorter pieces. The main story is nearly 200k on its own, the longest single volume I've ever made (about 500 pages), and I was worried about it getting too unwieldy, so I put all the other works into their own volume of about 100 pages. They make a disparate set but I love them. The cover is done in skiver green faux leather from Hollander's; I've never worked with this brand before but I loved it, and one sheet was big enough to do both books. The titles are done in cricut brand gold foil htv. There were some issues with that, as I'd bought a multi-pack with a few different colors and only found out after applying the front cover graphics on both books that one, I didn't have enough to do the backs and spines; two, that the gold in that pack is a totally different color than the gold they sell on its own; and three, that no one in my area stocked it anymore and I had to order it from Europe. Here's what the back looks like:

It's the same graphic as the front but without the title in the center, and it's one of the fanciest backs I've ever done and it took forever to weed all those little cutouts. The graphic was free to use on rawpixel. The font I used on the spines and front is a basic Microsoft font called Harrington that worked incredibly well on the cricut, even at small sizes; a lot of basic fonts are too thin, especially fancy ones, so this was a delightful surprise.

Photo of the top, with ribbon bookmark and handmade double core endbands. The endbands didn't come out as well as I'd have liked; they're a little uneven and the color changes aren't that evenly spaced. Double core ones are harder than I expected and I need more practice. The endpapers are chocolate silk moire, and I chose them because there's a very important massive tree in the fic and I thought they looked like wood grain. I did a little experimenting with the shorter volume that's visible around the edges of the endpaper. I wanted gilded edges but the longer book had to be rounded, and I thought I'd try paint instead of foil since I don't know how to foil a curved edge. But I did my experiments on the smaller volume and I couldn't get good coverage, so the edge had to be trimmed off. The watered-down paint had leaked into the edge of the silk moire too far for me to trim, so it's still there. But it's kind of pretty, so I'm going to call it an aesthetic choice.

The title pages are the same, with free graphics from rawpixel. I got lucky and found a similar set of roses that I used for the chapter headers:

These had to be positioned by hand for each chapter so they'd fit around the text properly. It was a pain but they look so pretty. The final photo contains a story spoiler, so proceed with caution if you don't want that:

The scene break image in both volumes is this tiny snake. This was one of the first aesthetic choices I made for the books. A lot of the plot is centered around a prophecy about a monster snake that everyone thinks will destroy the kingdom, and of course in the manner of Good Omens fic it's a wildly inaccurate misinterpretation and not a threat at all. I wanted something like this because the snake is not only non-threatening but it's been here the entire time and there was never any reason to freak out about it. It was surprisingly difficult to find a snake image that was both simple enough to still be clear at this size and also didn't look dangerous or like a cartoon character. I looked at so many snakes before I found this one, it's ridiculous.

And that's it! I hope the author likes it (and remembers me since I asked to do this almost a year ago). There are three more binderary posts forthcoming, though I don't know how long it'll take me to get to them. It was a busy month.

#bookbinding #fanbinding #snek makes books #good omens #fic rec #everyone look at my books they are so pretty #and then go read the fic it's so good omg

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chubsonthemoon · 1 year

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Hello!! I'm a baby bookbinder, and I really loved the format in which you bound the three shorts fics in your 23th february post. I'd love to try and replicate this perfect format. Could you tell me the type of biding you used please? Thank you!!!

Hello hello! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the kind words! <3

For those books, I used a modified version of @ashmouthbooks's super cool paperback format! They use self-ended endpapers, where you paste the first and last sheet of the textblock directly to the covers. I do basically the same thing, except I glue an extra sheet of Kraft paper to the cover paper to make it sturdier + add a hinge to help the book open a little easier. I talk a bit about this process in this post too, where you can see how I layer the scrapbook paper + Kraft paper, then mark the spine and hinge areas for creasing. (As you can see in the post, I actually sew the textblock with French link stitches, but you could definitely use perfect binding instead!)

I also do this with my digitally designed covers, printed on matte photo paper--here are the two layers pre-gluing and trimming:

You can also just nix the kraft paper entirely! Cardstock and scrapbook paper work really well on their own in my experience, since they're already a bit sturdier. One thing I've found really helpful also, if you have it, is to use a scoring tool to crease where you want the hinge/spine. This is especially helpful if you do end up adding an extra layer to the cover paper, because it can kind of difficult to get a clean crease without it.

Then after everything is trimmed and creased, I glue the cover directly to the endpapers, leaving the spine and hinge areas free so that the book can open easily.

And that's about it! I hope this was helpful, and thanks again for stopping by! :D

#asks #hattoririma #fanbinding #bookbinding #ficbinding

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finalfrontierpublishing · 9 months

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Hii is there any tutorial on how to bind paperback books? All the tutorials I found of fanbinding from various sources are all hardcovers and it is not something that I can do right now! So I was wondering if there's some alternate options?

oh boy - i don't have any experience with doing paperback books but i did peruse the hive mind (AKA Renegade Discord) to see what resources people who do paperbacks use.

From what I can tell, most people in my bookbinding discord do a doublefan or lumbeck binding, however, this will require a bit of equipment like a press to hold your pages steady.

youtube

The videos and advice from people who've tried it make it seem a lil tricky to do since the glue dries fast, its difficult to ensure all the papers are glued and pages fall out etc etc. Another person recommended another video online for regular perfect binding:

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I haven't watched this person's videos before, so wouldn't be able to comment on bookbinding technique etc. YMMV.

I personally still prefer to do sewn versions of books because the book is held together with stitching rather than glue and is more secure in that sense. if you have issues obtaining board, you could try the sewn-board binding, but use cardstock or bristol board instead of actual board? i've also done coptic style books where i've stitched cardstock onto the front and back as covers.

youtube

Hope this helps!!! apologies that this isn't my area of expertise so my comments on this will be a little limited.

If you'd like to ask some questions on the Renegade Bindery Discord and you're above 18, feel free to PM me and i'll send you the link to it! :)

#fanbinding #ficbinding #bookbinding #bookbinding asks!#final frontier publishing #bookbinding questions!

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rjalker · 1 year

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Anyways since I already forgot I literally did publish a book:

Here's where you can buy a physical copy of my Small-Flower Pawpaw Identification and Differentiation guide!

It shows you how to tell small-flower pawpaws apart from common pawpaws, and a few other similar looking species!

Here's a map of observations of small-flower pawpaws, as of December 7th, 2022, from iNaturalist.org. As of today there's 1,703 observations :)

[ID: a cropped satelite view of North America showing an area from Texas to North Carolina to Florida. Scattered over this area are orange boxes in various densities. End Id.]

Each orange box represents an observation! And if you're within this area but don't see any near you, don't dismay, it probably just means no one uses iNaturalist in your area, so you can be the first one to start posting observations!

[ID: A link preview for Lulu.com showing a small-flower pawpaw plant, with text overlaid that reads, "Small-flower pawpaw Identification and Differentiation Guide". End ID.]

Here's the web archive page for it where you can download it in various formats for free: Link Oh! and it looks like you can read it there too? Nice!

And here's the link to the google doc which you can also download for free!

This guide is public domain because I wanted it to be available to everyone possible! :) That means you can download and share the files as many times as you want in any way you want! If you know how to bookbind (and have lots of printer ink, lol) you can even print it out and make your own physical copies!

If you live in or are visiting Atlanta, Georgia, congrats! Small-flower and common pawpaws can both be found there, so especially if you're there when the fruits are ripe, you might get extra lucky and be able to find both!

#books #free books #plant identification #pawpaws #asimina #asimina parviflora #asimina triloba #iNaturalist #Nature #Wildlife #Wild plants #foraging #wild edibles #edible plants #edible fruit #Lol #Atlanta Georgia

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beasty-fort · 8 months

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So during my session last night, a number of things happened. One of which was our first Giantess!

She happened to pop up during a slow point between sieges. Ever since I caught about half of an invading force, the goblins have been very agitated apparently.

Anyway I let her run in through the front door so she could get snagged in the cage traps. I'm not sure whether to keep her around or feed her to Zaboomafoo. Speaking of our forgotten beast, I had fed them their first POW, and it had broken one of the safety gates in the process.

The way this is set up goes as such, there is a gate to take in caged prisoners into the holding area, that gate closes after I get the cage rigged to open with a lever. There usually is another gate separating the prisoner holding area from the forgotten beast. Zaboomafoo destroyed this gate the minute it opened, presumably by smashing both of its feet open from stomping the troll to death and the gate in the process.

Now I could not get any prisoners into that pen while the prisoner holding area was compromised. So! I made another gate that separates the pens from the rest of the tunnel, closed it off, and then put a wolverine on a rope out into the beast pens hallway to lure out the forgotten beast. I closed the pen door behind it when the forgotten beast rushed out to pulverize the wolverine into a fine paste, and my dwarves had the opportunity to make repairs in relative safety. Once that was done, I tied a naked mole dog up in the pen to lure Zaboomafoo back in. Worked wonderfully.

Later on, we had another siege, I caught some more goblins and trolls.

I also should bring up how I'm preparing the prisoners to be fed to the forgotten beast. How it goes is that I had learned I can mass designate items for dumping sort of like how I usually go about mining. I do this to the caged prisoners, then go back in and deselected the cages so they do not get dumped. The result is that all the belongings in the cage get marked for dumping, without dumping the prisoner or the cage.

In execution, a swarm of dwarves swoops down upon the prisoners like locusts and strips them of everything. It's amazing.

Then, after that there was a fist fight in the main hall.

It turned out that one of the miners had tantrumed, started a fight with an engraver, and then the engraver started punching anyone they could get their hands on, which spiraled into a brawl.

Pictured, the instigator.

I found some fun highlights from the reports:

A woodburner gets punched in the arm so hard they start vomiting, and then started collapsing from exhaustion in between throwing hands.

An animal dissector puts an unbreakable hold on the woodcutter and the bookbinder by grabbing the woodcutter's toe with their upper arm, and the bookbinder's pointer finger with their hand.

Even when the animal dissector falls over, their finger-toe hold does not break. A dwarf-fu master if I have ever seen one.

And of course, here is the aftermath. I'll need to put more beds in the hospital soon.

#beakfort #dwarf fortress #scratchmountains #we got our first giantess!#and the POW sacrifice program is going great

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indefinitevoid · 2 years

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bookbinding journal (part 1)

link to main post

First attempt at bookbinding: “corrina, corrina“ on AO3 by curlymcclain! Thanks a lot for giving me permission to make this and for writing this wonderful fic :))

This is just a record of what I did during the process for future reference and those interested (long post ahead)

Text Formatting

Followed this tutorial by @/ArmoredSuperHeavy: (so helpful; wouldn’t have done anything without it): https://docs.google.com/document/d/11JyVxeRS8yEWgCYrNMUPlNrEbR5AAD3Z2aDP-QXEP3Y/

I decided to use 7.75” x 11” paper folded in half, cutting ⅜’’ off the top and bottom edges of normal letter-sized paper. Pretty worth it b/c I needed to trim the edges after binding anyway.

Used Garamond size 11.5 font. Ended up with 84 pages total; I couldn’t reasonably fit it in 72, 80, or 96. Signatures were 20-20-20-24.

Apparently, I spent 595 minutes total editing the original Word document… It was really fun though! (seriously, the first several hours on the word doc, i was the most excited i had been in a while)

Note to future self: be careful with Word’s automatic table of contents and check for accidental new lines at the beginning of pages.

Printing

Turns out, my home printer prints faint text and smears a little.

So, I tested the school printers (yes, I test-printed fanfiction in the school library). The front and back of sheets didn’t line up (shows badly in the header). Fail.

Ended up using our 6-year old discarded black-and-white printer that we dumped at an office, which worked perfectly!

Used 92 brightness 20 lb paper (default). Never realized that printer paper was so see-through, but it’s good for books (yay!).

I was concerned about the paper grain facing the “wrong way”, but didn’t have anything else. I heard that it should be alright since the paper is relatively thin?

Hole Punching

Created a guide with thicker paper, laid on top. Push-pin to poke the holes. Binder clips to keep everything together. Propped the folded pages on an open sketchbook. Worked great, but poked holes into the inside spine of the sketchbook. Whoops.

Holes seemed to move a bit between signatures, not sure why. Mostly gets covered up during stitching though.

I later found out that you can punch holes with the paper face-down on top of corrugated cardboard. Will most definitely be doing this next time.

Text Block Stitching

Used the kettle/link method by Sea Lemon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O4kFTOEh6k

Used doubled-up thin white thread and waxed it with a candle.

Bound a bit loose for the first few signatures, but the last one was good. Knots and ends were a bit sloppy (kept sticking into the book). Accidentally hooked up the bottom line of stitches on the outside spine.

Note from the future: this had literally zero impact

Glueing the Spine

Elmer’s Glue + Binder Clips + parchment paper + hardcover book cover & clipboard. No mull.

Glue seeped in a tad bit between signatures, so those pages seemed a bit more “stuck together”.

This is when I realized that this had to be hardcover due to the way I bound it (falls open too easily for paperback).

Endpages

Luckily, I acquired some dark blue paper from the unused-paper-pile in an office. All of the other colors were light and didn’t go well with the planned beige cover, so light-dark contrast here we go.

Interestingly, I think this paper had the grain in both directions, kind of like the texture of canvas cloth up close.

Then, I put more glue on the spine and laid a piece of paper over it.

Trimming Edges

This step got delayed a week due to my inability to acquire a craft knife.

This was definitely the hardest part, since I've never used a paper-cutting knife before (other than 6th grade technology class), let alone on a stack of 46 pages.

Some edges were a bit uneven, but nothing majorly bad happened (that's a win).

I went back later to fix the worse parts and used a nail file on some weird areas. One is probably not supposed to nail-file paper, but it worked…

The trimmed block of text:

Making the Cover

Used this tutorial from Sea Lemon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_rU-yOPd4

I used cardboard from a cereal box because all the other cardboard around was corrugated. And beige cardstock as the "bookcloth" (also taken from the aforementioned office).

Cutting out the cardboard took way longer than it should have, because I kept cutting away from the ruler. Doubled up the cardboard on the spine, which I forgot to include in later calculations, so the cover ended up ~1.5 mm short on width. I glued the covers and spine on a piece of printer paper first in order to have them spaced apart correctly

The beige cardstock was only letter-size, so I had to glue two pieces together with a 7-8 mm overlap. Required some math to figure out where to put the cover title.

Then, I just glued the pieces of cardboard onto the beige paper and folded it up. I was originally worried, since beige cardstock is very different than bookcloth, but it honestly turned out as well as it could have.

The book cover (not sponsored):

(the white paper around the spine is the printer paper)

Final Glueing

This step was pretty simple, though I forgot the fact that glue is wet, and some moisture seeped into the first/last few pages and made them a bit wavy (this all happened in ten minutes). To remedy this, I put tissues between a bunch of pages and pressed it overnight, which actually worked; the pages are no longer wavy. Downside is that the cover got warped inwards a bit (concave up).

The next day, I used a hairdryer, which I probably could’ve done before. Then pressed it without anything inside for a few hours and it flattened out. The pages aren’t completely flat, but otherwise, it pretty much looks like a book :D

I also got a lot of guidance on several steps from rerurumo’s bookbinding videos, so thanks to them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCvTZRVbgg

More photos:

the unintended seam on the front cover:

the back cover seam:

the thing that my elementary teacher said not to do to books:

some pages:

noo the book isn’t perfectly flat D:

the stack of books used to press down:

alr that’s all for now o_O

#bookbinding #ficbinding #fanbinding #long post #bookbinding journal

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audiovisualrecall · 1 year

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I've been unfucking my habitat one area/spot/room at a time and it is so nice it makes me excited to clean/organize/neaten up another area! :D

I reorganized my clothing/dresser drawers to make things function better, removed clothing i dont wear anymore at all, and put away most of the stuff on top of the dresser including putting away ALL of the stuff that needed to be hung up in the closet, and I plan to put up some hooks outside the closet (on bedroom door and closet door) to help for the future, and also now I have a recycling box in my bedroom so my trash is just garbage and not a mix. Oh also I reorganized my art/craft stuffs a bit by condensing some things like putting all the loose paper for bookbinding covers in the same place in the container I got for the 12x12" size stuff, getting rid of a few scraps and stuff I can't use, making room for my watercolor and some other supplies in a drawer, and organizing the sketchbooks and notebooks and making better use of a shelf 😀

Today I cleaned up my bathroom (though I didn't get to cleaning/sweeping/dusting yet) by putting the garbage in a bag - it was all just loose in the pail and overflowing) and took it out, and then I put a new bag in -I should put the roll of bags inside the of the garbage pail instead of in the cabinet actually bc that'll be more effective for me to remember and actually do the thing - and again I turned a box into a recycling pail for toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes etc. And then I found a cute glass jar in the hall my sister had painted the inside of and then didn't like, I put the lid under the bottom and placed it on the bathroom counter and put my nail clippers, neosporin, aquafor, chapstick, etc in there.

Since it's open on top I can remember they're in there, and it looks way nicer than these things being spread across the counter, and it's slim and colorful! I also cleaned the litterboxes and have a plan to get a pail with the button you press w your foot to open the lid to make it easier so I will scoop them more often as I should.

I still have a bunch of areas that are messy still, and cleaning to do as well as organizing, but I'm happy to celebrate smaller accomplishments too 😊

(exact list is sweep bathroom, clean counter, get a raised soap dish thing to put the hand soap bottle on, sweep or vacuum the hallway, figure out solutions for my breakfast bar mess, and then eventually the same for parts of my room that are a mess too)

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bellamancuso · 6 months

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Intersections.

evaluation

Starting my first term of university helped me to refine and develop my skills as I learnt things I wouldn't have elsewhere such as in the typography workshops and bookbinding. I found these fun to partake in as I aim to use my new found skills moving forward. I have also enjoyed working amongst a smaller group of people within the class to get feedback on my work. It means I can push my work further and get to know people around me who think differently to me, applying their ideas to my own.

I have enjoyed attending talks and workshops which have been offered to me. I feel that the one which has challenged me the most was learning InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. This proved challenging for me as there are many small elements which you have to remember in order to create the outcome.

One of the strongest parts of my project was the research behind my work. More specifically the research leading up to the end of my final Intersections project. I researched using primary and secondary sources such as carrying out surveys and reading pages online. I hope to do more research during the next project with the books provided in the library, as I think that research from books is just as important, if not more important. I set myself the goal of teaching myself to use Adobe Dimensions during the Intersections project. I completed the tutorials provided within the app and was very proud of the 3D outcomes I put together as they looked industry standard after being rendered. I would definitely use Adobe Dimensions again moving forward because it was definitely a strength within my work.

I feel that I made good use of my time as I planned it out accordingly with an Adobe Express and Tumblr account to note all my processes alongside my working. It was important to keep it up to date to document changes and the thought process behind my ideas. Throughout the term I was given feedback from both peers and lecturers. I adapted my learning and developed my work depending on what was spoken about during these sessions. Their feedback was an important part in the development of my work.

Moving forward I hope to become more skilled using softwares such as photoshop so that I am less likely to fall behind and get confused. I think this will be achievable if I spend more time outside of sessions watching youtube videos about areas I am unsure of. I also aim to work with new people within the class so that our ideas can bounce off each other.

#intersections #intersectionsoutcome #evaluation

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bereft-of-frogs · 2 years

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shower thoughts/tales from tiktok time:

so there's this tiktok going around where this girl essentially says all forms of printing and binding fanfiction is illegal. (Renegade Publishing has already weighed in on this.) Which like, I think she's half right. I think there's a cohort of fanfiction readers that really need the fear of God put in them because they're acting really flippantly about the fact that fanfiction survives by existing in a legal grey area, and so yeah those people who are using commercial presses or printing and binding to distribute, or adding fanfiction works to Goodreads need to be told 'hey, this is illegal and you're putting all of this work in danger.'

but I think where she goes wrong is she takes it one step farther and whenever someone asks about personally printing, like from your own printer in your house, instead of being like 'yeah that's not what I'm referring to' she doubles down and keeps just saying, "yes, that is as illegal as the commercial press people, but I guess if you're just doing it in your house no one would know about it so whatever."

and I just...can't figure out her logic behind that. Where somehow the act of printing is somehow more illegal than the existence of fanfiction in general, in the digital space. Because the correct answer, as far as I (non-lawyer) can figure, if you're printing from a personal printer and binding it for personal reading, not distributing it, it is at most equally illegal? Like the creation of the fanfiction in the first place would be the thing that's in violation of the IP, there's nothing inherent in the act of printing that could be more illegal than its existence?

It kind of made me laugh a little at the philosophical question of it all. Because like...the only difference between a piece of fanfiction on the browser of your computer and as a printed piece is the physical existence of ink on paper. And what does this lead to? Are my notebooks where I write first drafts of scenes more illegal than the snippets I sometimes post to tumblr? What about people who print out their WIPs to do physical edits? What is it about the physicality of printed fanfiction that somehow transforms it into something more illegal in this tiktokker's eyes than when it exists as pixels and code?

anyway, some of that last paragraph is me sort of taking her words to an unfair extreme, it's just kind of funny. I think she's both saying something that a lot of people on the TikTok fan community needs to hear - stop using commercial binding services, full stop - but she's also fearmongering a bit and making people think that they're putting fanfiction in an equal amount of danger from IP crackdowns just because they've printed out the latest chapter of their favorite WIP from their HP Deskjet on A4 to read for themselves.

I also think this is a kind of funny generational divide because everyone I know that's my age who's been in fandom for a while has printed fanfiction out before for personal use and thought nothing of it. Because back when I first got into fandom, there were no smartphones, and oh my god what if your family was dragging you to your grandparents' house for the weekend and they don't have a desktop computer but alas, the fic you've been following just updated! what else are you going to do but send it to your home printer and sit there for half an hour watching it print one line of ink at a time with an ungodly screeching sound (and then weeks later you get yelled at because WHY ARE WE OUT OF BLACK INK AGAIN? DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE PRINTER INK IS? WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE PAPER???).

anyway. I really do want to get into bookbinding someday, but my problem is most of the online tutorials are for hardcovers and I really prefer paperbacks. I've found a couple tutorials for paperbacks though, so maybe someday! If anyone has any others feel free to send them along. ;-)

#tales from tiktok

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oberlincollegelibraries · 3 years

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Weekend Edition: A Topic You're Interested In But Have Not Yet Explored

Okay, so it was difficult to come up with recommendations for today’s theme, because a topic I am interested in but haven’t yet explored is probably completely different from a topic you want to explore. However, how to go about finding books on our preferred topics may not be so different. So this weekend I am going to highlight books about bookbinding, a topic I’m interested in but have not yet explored, and tell you the tools and techniques I used to find the books.

I really wanted to know how to create a handmade book, not just a self-published book, but something more akin to an artist’s book. So I started with an advanced keyword search in OBIS. I wasn’t quite sure of the language most commonly used, so I started with a couple synonyms and linked them with an “or” (Example: “handmade book” or “book design”). Then I chose another element of my interest (topic) because I didn’t want a book the was just collections of artists’ books, but I wanted to read about the steps I might take to make such a book, so I added the keyword “manual”, making my boolean search string, “handmade book” or “book design” and “manual”. Once I found the first promising book I used the subject heading, “Book design -- Handbooks, manuals, etc”, that was in the catalog record to find related books. Where available, I used the Google Book Search link to explore more about each of the books, sometimes even getting a look at some of the pages before choosing the ones that most interested me.

Finally I decided to see what might be available beyond Oberlin’s libraries, so while looking under the subject search I clicked on Search Ohio to duplicate the search in the Ohio public libraries consortium’s catalog. Just like OhioLINK, I can request books from the public libraries in the area and check them out at Oberlin.

I found several books to read that fit the Reading Challenge topic - A topic you are interested in but have not yet explored. I hope this helps you find books you’re interested in as well!

Book play : creative adventures in handmade books / Margaret Couch Cogswell. (Search Ohio)

Make books as interesting as the stories you want to tell! In this inspiring guide, artist and teacher Margaret Couch Cogswell pushes the boundaries of bookmaking through twenty-two traditional and experimental projects. Start off with a beginner-friendly accordion fold book or a classic journal. Then open your mind with a rolling “story dispenser” or an innovative bird made from book pages! Along the way, learn how to fashion various bindings; construct forms with paper, fabric, and metal; and create decorative effects. Conversational instructions and artist features will inspire you to find your own creative voice.

Booklyn education manual : bringing bookmaking to your students

Issued in a commercial card stock three-hole report binder. Includes instruction sheets, lesson plans, book making terminology, and resource lists. Plastic pocket at back contains 7 models including a pamphlet, a one page, an accordion with pop-up, a flag book, a zine, coptic binding, and stab binding

Making handmade books : 100+ bindings, structures & forms / Alisa Golden

In the digital world, books may seem like an endangered species, but bookmaking is more popular than ever. Thanks to the 100 ideas in this volume, the craft is now available to everyone. In as little as an afternoon, beginners will be on their way to folding, gluing, and sewing handmade books in a variety of shapes and styles, from rolled scrolls to Jacob's ladders, folded flexagons to case bindings. Complete with photographs of the author's own master books and statements by more than 40 established book artists

Unique handmade books / Alisa Golden

Good looking book that includes respected artists as contributors/collaborators. Thoroughly enjoyable...inspiring examples. A good balance between methods and ideas—it would take years to explore all the options.”—Textile Fiber Forum

#reading challenge #reading recommendations #book making #oberlin college libraries #oberlin college #OCL reads #weekend edition

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ace-in-a-shopping-cart · 4 years

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Day 5

Prompt: Any intense emotions your soulmate feels you will also experience.

Word Count: 1,730

Main Taglist: (Send an ask to be added or removed!) @starlocked01, @spoopy-turtle, @lizluvscupcakes, @more-fandon-than-friends, @i-cant-find-a-good-username, @vindicatedvirgil, @star-crossed-shipper, @justaqueercactus, @gayboopnoodle, @sanderssidesweirdo, @the-sympathetic-villain

Soulmate taglist:(Send an ask to be added or removed!) @elizabutgayer, @melodiread, @tsshipmonth2020, @mikalya12

CW: Panic attacks, anxiety, mentions of self depreciation, mentions of horror.

Logan felt another burst of anxiety deep in his gut and sighed. This was the tenth time in three days, he was starting to be worried for his soulmate. He focused on his breathing, feeling for the familiar tug of emotion. After years of doing this, he’d ‘hacked the system’ so to speak by figuring out where the emotional connection was in his head. Once he’d figured that out, it was a simple matter of pushing emotions across it. So, he did that. He pushed a strong calm over to his soulmate, hoping their anxiety would lessen. He breathed out a sigh of relief when it did, when the pit of doubt left his stomach and his throat opened back up, when he didn’t have to struggle to keep his thoughts clear instead of giving in and drowning in the hate his brain spewed at him in that moment.

He hated the way the anxiety made him feel but also knew that his was tame compared to his soulmate’s. To combat it, he started happy stimming, flapping his hands near his face until he was grinning. He didn’t realize he was pushing his happiness through the connection until he felt the joy being radiated back. He stopped stimming, letting his hands falling back onto the library cart bring him out of his thoughts and remind him of his current task: to reshelf books.

Logan loved working at the library. He loved getting to read as much as he wanted, to have the ability to interact with a bunch of people or choose to stay by himself. The best thing about working in the library is that he got to see people’s faces light up when they found a book. Whether it’s the next book in a series they were reading, a book they’d almost forgotten about, one they had cherished memories of as a child, or a new one they were finding for the first time, he loved seeing the different expressions on peoples faces.

Today would be a good day for that as the library had invited a local author to come in and read his books aloud. Not many knew this, but he had two different pen names. One he used to write children’s books, the other was used to write horror stories with the main focus being human vs nature. Logan had researched the man extensively last night, not getting to sleep until a few hours before he had to get up for work.

The door jingled and a man in a hoodie walked in, making his way over to the children’s section. Logan watched him go, wondering what brought him here today, the reason for his visit to that particular section. When Logan saw him reach out a brush a spine, a soft smile lighting his face, he knew it was a nostalgic visit. He went back to his work, finishing in the adult section and moving to the children’s.

He saw that the tall man had sat down in a comically small chair compared to his height, his leg bouncing in some sort of anticipation. Logan felt the anxiety curling into his stomach again, making him want to curl up on the ground or scream in an emotion he was unable to put words to. Instead, he finished putting the books away and walked up to the man, ignoring the voice in his head that was telling him everyone was watching him at all times.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Logan sat on the ground beside the man, watching the way his head ducked further into his hood.

“Something like that.” The man muttered. His fingers were pulling on his sleeves even while his leg was vibrating. There was something unknown but familiar in the man that made Logan curious about him.

“You look like you could use a distraction.” He said, finally pinpointing the reason the man looked just the slightest bit off.

He chuckled but Logan knew there was little to no mirth in it. “Sure, that’d be nice.” Even so, his voice was genuine.

So, Logan started talking about bookbinding and the differences between modern and medieval Europe. He talked for a half hour or so. During that time, he felt the knot of anxiety untie and slip away, his thoughts clear, and an almost giddy sensation come from across the bond. He paused and realized that the giddiness was coming from him and being reflected back across the bond like a loop.

Logan smiled at the man sitting next to him, carefully watching him. He was no longer hunched into himself, no longer hiding from the world. He seemed to be relaxed, his shoulders were down and his head was up, hood thrown back. His leg was no longer bouncing and his hands were no longer tugging at his sleeves. He had a smile on his face and, in that instance, Logan was sure he could talk to this man for hours and never lose his attention.

Logan didn’t resume talking about his latest hyperfixation, glancing at his watch instead. “I need to get ready.”

The man reached out as Logan stood, helping him up but also glancing at his watch before a panicked look crossed his face. “Shoot, is it really that time already?”

Logan nodded. “My watch is always on time. Do you have somewhere to be?”

“Here. I just didn’t expect time to fly so fast.”

“Well, you know what they say about having fun.” Logan began tidying up the area, getting the small chairs and soft sitting surfaces to face the chair the man was sitting in as it seemed to be against the wall already. He found the copy of the book that was to be read and placed it on the table nearby before standing by the door.

The head librarian walked up to Logan. “What have you been doing with V. A. Strand this whole time?!”

Logan’s head would have spun around if he were in a cartoon. “What do you mean? Are you telling me that the random man I helped down from a near panic attack is the author who’s reading to the children today?!”

She looked at him like he was stupid. “Of course!”

Logan looked back to see the man, V. A., smiling and greeting all the children and parents who filed in. He politely refused autographs and pictures but did allow the children hugs, which Logan thought was sweet. He hadn’t realized he’d been talking to one of his favorite authors of all time about bookbinding of all things for half an hour. Logan shook his head, perfectly content with the way the conversation went, the way he was able to calm the man down, the smile he got at the end of it. None of that time was wasted, neither was it made more special simply because he now knew the man’s identity. It was simply a slightly shocking discovery.

He nodded at that thought and turned back, watching the way V. A didn’t have to look at the book, knowing exactly which words were on which pages, what the pictures looked like. Logan wondered how many late nights he spent, pouring his ideas into words. Logan knew the man illustrated his own books and wondered how long it must take.

The reading was over before Logan was aware. About halfway through, he’d been told to get back to work so he grabbed a new cart and was at it reshelving books. He tried to listen in to the reading, wanting to keep talking with and to V. A., someone he’d only exchanged a few words with but he was already desperate to know their opinion on anything and everything. He wanted to know what he had rattling around in that head. After all, no one can be that quiet without having something on their mind. True, they could simply be quiet, but that meant they were either allowing their mind to wander or they were having thoughts on the discussion. Either one deserved to have those thoughts heard and appreciated.

Logan hadn’t noticed the reading was over until a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to look and found the object of his thoughts staring back at him, hand retreating back into his hoodie pocket. Logan smiled. “Can I help you with something?”

He nodded. “I think we might be soulmates?” The sentence came out as a question rather than the statement he surely must have meant.

Logan’s smile only faltered slightly in shock, the thought never having crossed his mind before then. “Why do you think that?”

He seemed to draw into himself, his shoulders rising and his head ducking down the slightest bit. Logan wanted to reach out and hold his hand, to tell him everything was going to be fine. He didn’t, instead, he waited for him to speak. “Earlier when you helped calm my anxiety, I could feel a calm and almost giddy feeling as you talked. I don’t find bookbinding particularly delightful so I knew it had to come from someone else. I don’t know, I guess you seemed to be the obvious choice.” He shook his head. “Sorry, it sounds stupid now.”

He turned to go but Logan reached out a hand and gently grabbed his elbow. His hoodie fabric was as soft as it looked. “Hey, no. It’s not stupid. I hadn’t thought of it until now, too caught up in enjoying talking with you, but it feels like it’s possible. You wanna test it?”

He turned back, leaving Logan’s hand on his elbow. “How?”

“How many times have you panicked or had excessive anxiety over the past three days?”

“Including both times today? Eleven.” The statement was accompanied with a wince of embarrassment, as if he were ashamed of having emotions.

Logan nodded, a smile splitting across his face. “That’s as many times as I’ve felt it from you.” His shrug was much more nonchalant than V. A.’s was just now. “So, do you wanna get a donut from the shop down the street and chat sometime soon?”

He laughed. “That sounds nice. Although, I guess we should exchange names and numbers as well.”

They did so and V. A., no Virgil, walked out the library door, waving to Logan on his way out.

#tsshipmonth2020 #analogical #adhd!logan #writer!virgil #virgil sanders #logan sanders #hidden identity #ace writes

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aconstantstateofbladerunner · 4 years

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have you ever thought about getting any of your fics printed and bound in book form and selling them? even just in limited runs? id love to b able to buy a physical copy of Butterfly from u to both support u and also to have it in my hands to cry over forever

I’ve considered getting a physical copy made for myself, but not selling any. Fanfiction occupies a grey area of fair use, and things start to get a lot less grey when money gets involved. Not to mention I haven’t found a fanfic bookbinding service that isn’t sketchy as hell.

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han-made-bookbinding · 3 years

Text

Music: Miniature Board

“Music” Miniature Board Commissioned as part of a series on the same theme by Neale Albert, New York, USA. Measuring 3 inches square Made in 2020

This series of boards was inspired by a collection of full size boards which Neale Albert was shown during a trip to George Bayntuns in Bath in 2018. The boards he saw had all been made by members of Designer Bookbinders for a separate project on the theme of Architecture. This project gave Neale the idea for a new project: a series of miniature designer bound boards on the theme of music, three inches (7.62 centimetres) square in size. In early 2019 myself and a number of other binders were asked to participate in this project. Each binder was given total control of the design of their piece (as usual for Neale's commissions) the only common ground between them was to be the size and the musical theme.

Neale started collecting dolls house miniatures in the mid-1980's, which then progressed to commissioning miniature reproductions of his favourite things leading eventually to having entire miniature rooms made for him. But of course miniature rooms need miniature things to go into them, and naturally when Neale's second room project was going to be the library at Cliveden House in the UK he needed miniature books for the shelves! Initially these were blank books purchased at doll house shows until he discovered the world of real miniature books with real type and real illustrations.

I believe that this was the start of Neale's passion for collecting miniature bindings, commissioning bookbinders from around the world to create miniature books for him. Over 250 of Neale's bindings are illustrated in the 2008 publication, “The Neale M. Albert Collection of Miniature Designer Bindings: A Catalogue of an Exhibition Held at the John Rylands Library 4 June – 18 October 2008”, and he has commissioned many more since then too.

When I considered the theme my thoughts naturally turned to cellos as I played the cello up until the age of 20. I made it all the way up to Grade 8 (which seems unbelievable to me now as I can barely remember how to read music anymore!) and was a member of both the orchestra at my secondary school as well as a local music centre. I started learning the cello when I was at primary school - here I am on the far right!

I was also part of a record breaking attempt in 1998 and made it into the local paper (below on the right!). Nearly 4000 young musicians got together at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham along with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Sir Simon Rattle to perform Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Suite No.2, along with school children from all over the country - we successfully broke the previous record of 2212 musicians!

Sadly leaving home to go to university was the end of my cello playing as I decided I didn't want to take such a large instrument away with me. It sat in the cupboard at my parents house for many years however I am pleased to say that it has finally gone to a new owner and is being played again.

As luck would have it a neighbour of mine is a luthier, based in Somerset and specialising in cellos. Kai-Thomas Roth was born in Germany. From the age of eight he knew he wanted to become a violinmaker and made his first instrument at the age of thirteen. After training as a cabinetmaker in Switzerland he came to England to study at the Newark School of Violin Making. Following work experience in the trade he established with his wife Caroline Crowley their business as makers of fine instruments of the violin family in 1990.

Below: Head of Baroque cello, No 103, after Guadagnini (Photo Credit: Kai-Thomas Roth Instgram account @kaithomasrothcellos)

Specialising exclusively in making bowed stringed instruments all experience and expertise gained since 1986 are concentrated on the manufacture of these intricate complex artefacts. For that reason Kai-Thomas neither has a shop nor employees and he does not deal in old instruments or undertake repairs. This puts him amongst the few makers who immerse themselves completely in creating instruments but amazingly he's never played the instrument he so lovingly creates!

I approached Kai to ask whether he had any technical drawings of cellos that I might borrow to base the design of my board on. What he lent me was a drawing of a “Violoncello Piccolo” made by Johann Christian Hoffmann in Leipzig in 1732. This instrument belongs to the Museum of Musical Instruments of Leipzig University and the maker was in Leipzig at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach. This violoncello is a small cello that would be played braced against the shoulder rather than between the legs. This instrument is also a five-string version of the instrument, standard cellos have just four strings.

The inner board was made up as I would make up the board for a binding. Two 1mm think squares of Gemini board were glued together, with a piece of kraft paper glued on the inner side of the board and two layers of 145gsm water colour paper to the outside. Once dry the outside face of the board was bevelled using sandpaper.

The front of the board is covered in “Colvert” coloured bull skin from the Remy Carriat Tannerie in France, this was edge pared for the turn-ins using my Brockman paring machine and then further pared with a rounded scalpel blade. The bull skin is very stretchy and difficult to pare with a conventional paring knife so I have found through experimenting that I get the best result using a scalpel with a size 23 Swan Morton blade in it.

I traced the scroll section of the cello, including the top peg, onto some paper and transferred this onto the back of the leather I chose to use for the board. I then embroidered a series of individual short lines in a variety of colours of cotton thread to break up the uniform blue of the leather. These stitches were done around the outline of where the scroll was going to sit on the board.

The leather was then pasted to the board, turned in and left to dry. I then cut out the outline of the cello scroll (within the line of stitches) and peeled this away to leave a void. I used two varieties of veneer (Rosewood and Elm), which I backed onto card to give extra thickness and strength, cutting them out very carefully with a sharp scalpel so that they exactly matched the void that they needed to fill.

They were glued in place using PVA glue and held with small clips whilst the glue dried to ensure that they dried flat. Where the veneer met the edge of the board I bevelled the veneer to match the profile of the leather as it thinned towards the edges.

I forgot to take too many photos of how I built up the detail on the veneered sections of the board (I was enjoying this part too much and forgot!), but I drilled small holes right through the board using a fine drill bit in my Dremel and added outlines using thread sewn through these holes. I also added a thin wash of acrylic paint to some areas of the veneer to add an appearance of shading and depth to the surface, plus I also included some detail in gold leaf to jolly up the design!

Finally, I used thin gold wire that was also passed through more small holes drilled in the board to depict the cello string wound round the topmost peg. The wire was passed through the board and embedded into the reverse before being covered with the infill on the back of the board.

Once the back of the board had been infilled and built up it was time to work on the design for the back of the board. I cut a small piece of vellum to 3 inches square and traced another part of the cello technical drawing onto the reverse of it using a light box. This section included part of the F hole and the bridge that supports the strings.

I was then able to use these lines as a guide for embroidering the design using the same colours of thread as used on the front of the board.

I also used some gold leaf and small elements of the “Colvert” bull skin to match what I had used on the front of the board.

The back of the board was built up with a couple of layers of Zerkall paper and sanded flat. Once the vellum was complete I stuck it down to the back of the board and left it to dry, making sure I rubbed it down all over to ensure it stuck down properly.

And so we had a completed board! All that was left to do was to add my signature and a small number annotation to the vellum back of the board then it was photographed and posted over to join the other boards in New York. This was a very pleasurable little project to work in in amongst other commissions and I was pleased to reminisce back to my more musical days!

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sarcasmisakindofmagic · 4 years

Text

And I, seeking safe harbour, found it between the pages of a book

Pairing: Santiago Garcia x fem!reader

Word count: 2,200

Warnings: Tom prefers the movie to the book. one (1) swear word. This is a yearning sort of fluff.

A/N: This is unbeta’d so please forgive any typos

It started, as so many things did for Santiago Garcia, in a bookshop.

The bookshop of his childhood had been haphazard and dusty, second hand books piled high above his head; unending towers of adventures waiting for him to read. They had been browning at the edges, marginalia scrawled in a rainbow of colours in thousands of different hands - previous readers accompanying him on his journey and adding wry remarks to the story.

His abuela had taken him there every Wednesday after school. It had just been the two of them, the cousins relegated to helping abuelo on the farm, but Santi as the baby could help abuela with the town errands. She always got him one book to add to his collection.

Le Morte d’Arthur was a favourite, the binding long since giving up the ghost. Pages held together by string and Santi turning each page with a gentle caress, weighting down each pile with carefully selected rocks - flat, nothing to tear the paper.

Santi had gone back to the bookshop once after Abuela died. The day before he was due to leave town to hit bootcamp. He handed a fresh copy of Le Morte d’Arthur to the volunteer behind the desk, complete with scrawled annotations and inscription.

There hadn’t been many bookshops on the tours he’d taken, occasional lingering moments of perusing the shelves. Frankie knew to leave him alone with the potential stories, a quiet nod and he’d be off to stake out a quiet spot. The whole team would find him later, passively guarding enough space for them to guard each other’s backs. Tom never got the message always hovering, making comments about how he always preferred the movies anyway, Santiago stopped looking for bookshops with him around. Will and Benny usually came as a pair. Benny burning off energy, as Will followed more placidly. Ironically it had been Benny who understood the most, Will losing himself to music more easily than the written word.

“Books, man, I could do that anywhere. It’s active, y’know? Music just happens to you, but i can lose myself in a book.” Benny had told him once, dropping a Du Maurier novel in his lap with a sly grin and only offering a shrug when anybody asked where he’s got an english copy in the middle of bumfuck nowhere redacted.

On the long flights where Benny literally couldn’t sleep, and Santi had too many possibilities running through his head, they’d swap books, making little notes and hiding dicks in the centre folds so they’d get bigger as the book opened.

Half their friendship had been little doodles of dicks, drawn at the most heartfelt and profound moments of classics. Oddly it completely summed Benny up.

The local bookshop was a hidden gem. After Colombia he hadn’t sought out the written word for so long the impulse to go in surprised him enough that he was inside before he’d really thought about it. The shelves inside were crammed full, small hand-painted signs letting him know the genre in which he found himself. There was no military precision to be found here, plenty of space to get lost and find a gem no one had wanted to read in years. The ghost abuela murmured approvingly in his ear, old advice echoing ‘Books need readers, nieto, always find a story that has taken someone on the journey before.’

Occasionally, there would be little stacks of books as new orders came in, the shelves too full to make room for the new arrivals. Regulars moved round them, or paused to run the pad of one finger down the spines, a momentary introduction to a potential new companion.

Hidden around a corner was a tiny café area, only enough to seat maybe ten people, it wasn’t advertised outside - Santiago had never seen every seat taken, though he certainly recognised the regulars by now.

There was the local Rabbi who would tuck himself in the corner with a hot tea and write, occasionally muttering under his breath in Hebrew as he wrestled his sermon into existence. Two students, who were not dating but should be, occupied the table with book wedged under the leg to make it stop wobbling. They were always in contact with one another, limbs seeking the other’s warmth. They didn’t have a schedule but were never in before noon and had only once been spotted on a Thursday.

A young mum who sat by herself on Saturday mornings and absorbed the quiet, she’d once fallen asleep, resting her head on the shelves. Santiago had woken her at her usual departure time, to flustered thank yous, ‘her twins were at ballet classes and her husband was away-’. She’d been out the store and earshot before she’d finished speaking but a little plate with a huge slab of shortcake had been waiting for him the Saturday after, with ‘Thank you’ iced across the top. There had also been a card with a little boy and girl dancing ballet together impressively drawn in crayon, with capitalised signatures.

Santiago had it in a frame at his house and refused to explain it to anyone that asked beyond a bland, “It’s a thank you card.”

Only Will had taken more than a beat to move on, absorbing the bright colours and wobbly letters. The clap on Santi’s shoulder and soft look had been enough. Will had never needed words to get a point across, but a gesture like the card? Will understood that well enough.

The boys all knew about you, heard stories about the book shop owner who could make Pope blush with a well timed smile and look in her eye.

Abuela would have liked her, was the way he explained it to Frankie, blaming the hushed tones on the baby cradled in his arms, rather than the strength of his crush. Little Nina was as placid as her daddy and slept like a rock from day one, Santiago could have yelled his love to heavens and she would only have huffed a little and snuggled closer.

Frankie had only cuffed him on the back of the head and asked if he would pick up some Spanish children’s books for Nina. Santiago didn’t need the excuse to go in there, but he grabbed it with both hands anyway.

You’d been delighted to help, piling his arms high with options before whittling it back down again, selecting tough to rip cardboard and silly rhymes over the school year novellas.

“I’ll pick those up once she’s grown a bit.” He promised, eyeing the reject pile guiltily. “If she takes after her godfather she’ll have her own library soon enough.”

“I was the same,” you laughed, stacking the books neatly by age group and sub-genre, “I used to drive my mother spare reading the book the same day we’d bought it.” “Would you like to go to dinner?” Santiago asked impulsively, talking over the end of your sentence, flushing a little at how abruptly he’d blurted it out. “I’d like to hear about your favourite books.” Your smile made his stomach flip, as you nodded fumbling with the book in your hands.

“I’d like that.” You agreed warmly. “I have quite a few favourites though, it might take more than one.”

Will met you first; in the bookshop without Santi’s supervision. There had been a break in at the shop and Will only lived five minutes away, rushing to calm you down as Santi drove like a madman to get to you.

The shop was in shambles, shelves torn down and books strewn everywhere. Loose leaves littered the floor, glass shards gleaming cruelly in the glaring streetlights. Will had wrapped you up in his jacket, careful of the bruises and nasty gash on your leg, lifting you off the floor and out onto the sidewalk.

He didn’t leave your side until Santiago arrived, waiting until Santi had you in his arms before heading back into the shop to check out what needed fixing.

Frankie met the shop before he met you. His house had the biggest yard, opening out into the woods without anything fencing him in. Will commandeered the space, Frankie happily helping out with the book repairs. His hands had never shaken under pressure, always sure on the controls of the choppers. He learnt the art of bookbinding quickly enough, humming along to Will’s playlists, the two quietest members of the team content to let the music fill the quiet for them.

The first time Frankie met you was when he and Will showed you the shop. The shelves Will had built, now firmly fixed to the wall and floor - they’d prop up the walls before anybody toppled them again. The undamaged books were separated from Frankie’s repairs, in case they weren’t up to your standards. He was pulled into a hug before he could summon up an apology for the amateur job. A stream of thank yous echoing in his ear as you hugged Will just as tightly.

Santiago was smiling, bringing him into hug with a quiet cabron. He always knew when Frankie was overthinking something. You pulled Santi away, demanding Will give a tour of the new, improved shop. Happily calling for Frankie to keep up, you needed to know everything he’d done too.

Benny volunteered to stay at the shop during the day, doing the heavy lifting while your bruises faded. Santiago worked from home but couldn’t help hovering in the shop, too concerned for you and too distracted by all the books he hadn’t got a chance to read.

Somehow this had turned into Benny painting little murals on any spare wall space and the edges of the shelves.

“Have you always painted?” You asked curiously,

Benny shrugged, scratching his chin and leaving tracks of paint over the stubble.

“Pops always had Will out back helping with the farm, he learned the woodworking with him. I helped momma round the house until I was old enough to help paint the stuff they built together.” He broke off to gently shoo Hades away from the paints, the shop cat meowing plaintively at his curiosity being denied.

“Come here puss, you don’t need a paint job.” You coaxed, clicking your fingers to entice him up onto the counter. There was no way your bruises were going to let you bend down to pick him up.

“Anyway, momma was an art teacher she taught me the basics, after that,” he flushed, “a friend helped me practice.”

You had to bite down on your cheek to keep from smiling or asking anymore questions. Benny’s friend sounded interesting but his expression screamed please-don’t-ask-questions.

“My mum could knit anything.” You said instead, finally convincing Hades to have a cuddle and scritching under his chin. “I tried to copy her one summer, ended up having to be cut free from all the wool.”

Benny laughed, all the tension leaving his shoulders at the image of you all snared up like a kitten.

“Me and Will used to track footprints through the house all the time, ‘til we did it with whitewash after painting the barn. Momma had us camped outside for a month before she let us back in.” Benny said sheepishly, a smudged green handprint marking the back of his neck as he confessed. “Pops snuck us in for showers, said he felt bad we’d got punished for chores.”

Hades leapt out of your arms, startled by your laughter.

“God, I dropped a whole bowl of tomato soup on a cream carpet? Does that count?” You wheezed, leaning back against the shelves to try and stretch out the bruising seeing if the new position would help. Benny winced in sympathy

“Sorry. I’ll try to be less hilarious.” He quipped dryly. “And no, not unless you camped out for a month.”

The decision to marry you was the easiest one Santiago ever made. How on earth to actually ask you to marry him, turned out to be a harder thing to pin down. The ring went on half the trips you made for a year: down to Hawai’i on a group holiday, camping up in the mountains and even the near weekly hikes you took on Mondays, shutting shop up and leaving the town far behind.

It was an old copy of The Princess Bride that eventually spurred him into action. Santi was helping with organising the basement which was full of donations and books to be shipped out across the county.

Golding’s novel hit him square in the chest, the achingly familiar cover making Santiago’s throat tighten. Abuela had loved this book, taking great pleasure in dramatically clearing her throat to read it to him when he was sick. The grandpa in the story was replaced with Abuela as she told him the tale of true love: Inigo Montoya switching between Spanish and English and easily as he switched his sword hand.

He’d long been enamoured with pirates and fighting evil kings, but The Princess Bride had been the book to remind him to find something to fight for. Perhaps he’d been clinging to the doomed romance of Le Morte d’Arthur for too long.

“The Princess Bride? Santiago, this is true love - you think this happens every day?” You quoted easily, pressing a kiss to his cheek as you passed.

Santiago sent up a garbled prayer of thanks to Abuela, she always knew what he needed before he did anyway.

And so, Santiago Garcia asked the love of his life to marry him on a rainy Thursday in a bookshop. And it was perfect.

‘But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.’ -William Golding, The Princess Bride.

#santiago garcia #santiago pope garcia #triple frontier #frankie catfish morales #frankie morales #santiago garcia x reader #santiago garcia x you #oddly introspective drabble #i love books #so Pope loves books #the princess bride #william golding #le morte d'arthur #Ella wrote a thing #not quite fluff

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nolahthestranger · 3 years

Text

I don’t know when was the last time I finished a book in a day...

But here we are! I got this beauty yesterday at last! And today I’ve finished it! This won’t be a review because I couldn’t be objective enough even if I wanted to and it’s full of irl rambling anyway... :)

I was so happy when I got to know that my all-time-favourite topic will get a book and could hardly wait to get my hands on it!

Anthropodermic bibliopegy became my weird obsession when I had to prepare a presentation for one of my university courses about bookbinding. I was at a loss bacause I had no idea what topic to choose. I was absentmindedly looking through Wikipedia articles when the term caught my eyes. As I read on I became inreasingly fascinated and decided I’d do my presentation on this topic. I did ‘some’ digging and this term and the practice itself is not mentioned in my native language (aside from clickbait articles with no scientific background). So I had to work from English sources. It wasn’t a problem at that time, but when I wrote my thesis about this very topic, I had to use VPNs and other stuff to be able to access sources. I felt like hacker sometimes. It was fun!

As were the reactions from my classmates and my teachers... I admit, this is not a topic anyone in their right mind would choose, BUT it’s so freaking interesting!!! I was always fascinated by death and macabre things so I thought this was fitting. So this topic became my hyperfixation... Thing is, it”s such a ‘niche’ area of research (and somewhat young territory too), that I had a very limited store of resources, sadly. But everything I’ve found, I’ve read it religiously.

Fast forward to last year and I’m defending my thesis. I was on the verge of a panic attack, before the exam my thesis advisor teacher told me the obvious: there’ll be a lot of questions about my topic. That didn’t help. But I was so invested in my topic that it kinda gave me courage and I nervously laughed during the entire thing. And there were questionsand I’ve answered them with a bit of weird enthusiasm and the theachers were baffled as to why I chose this topic. I told them about my fascination with it and they were kind of amazed?

Ever since then I regulary check if there’re more info on this topic, but sadly there’re not many. Aside from a photo album found in Poland last year, iirc.

You could imagine my reaction when I got wind of this book...

So... This was an amazing read, from and amazing person (I really like that it’s written the way it is. I didn’t know I needed the personal touch to this, but God, it made me respect her even more!). Although it haven’t said a lot of new things to me, it put the topic more into perspective. How amazing is the fact that you can read about human-skin-bound books from relatively first hand? She was there, she held those books, her team tested those books! Can you imagine? Morbid as it may be, it’s on my bucket list to see a book bound in human skin once. It was like reading a detective story, where I knew the end but it was still really interesting and informative. I was so happy that the informations I’ve used writing my thesis waved back to me from the firsthand source. And let me tell you, I’m only now proud of my work. It’s only now that I acknowledge that I did good, because there aren’t many articles or blog posts about it in my native language. I’m proud of it even if there won’t be many people reading it and it’s nowhere as good as I now want it to be! :)

I’m so thankful for Megan Rosenbloom for writing this book. I hope that more people will realize what an interesting topic this is and in the future more institutions will allow their alleged books to be tested (whether with PMF or some non-destructive method).

All in all, this book is amazing. It collects the known, tested and even a few alleged examples of books bound in human skin, tells the stories behind them, puts the practice of binding books in human skin in ethical perspective and adds a whole lot of first person point of view to it. And all the while remaining informative but not dry. Not to mention that the dust jacket looks so good!

This book will be my treasure. And I’m a bit sad that I’m not living in the US because I’d have ordered a signed copy.. But I’m not complaining. :)

#megan rosenbloom #dark archives #book rant #read in a day #anthropodermic bibliopegy #long post #long text

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