Alex Johnson's Blog, page 11
October 22, 2018
The Writers Game
I've been working on this concept on and off for the last three years (readers with good memories will remember that I tried to crowdfund it with Unbound) and now The Writers Game is 'published' today by Laurence King. It's essentially literary top trumps, good wholesome fun for all the family in a rather snazzy box. Here's what LK say about it:
Who had the most commercial success in their lifetime, Ernest Hemingway or Agatha Christie? Whose work has the most adaptations, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Franz Kafka? Who courted the most scandal, Colette or James Joyce? Pit 32 of the world’s greatest modern writers against each other with these beautifully illustrated cards. An ideal gift for the book lover in your life.
October 17, 2018
October 11, 2018
Shelf Life
As some of you know, away from the world of bookshelves, I also write books (frequently on bookish subjects). The latest is out today, Shelf Life, published by The British Library. Here is some bumph about it:
Books; reading, collecting and the physical housing of them has brought the book-lover joy – and stress – for centuries. Fascinated writers have tried to capture the particular relationships we form with our library, and the desperate troubles we will undergo to preserve it. With Alex Johnson as your guide, immerse yourself in this eclectic anthology and hear from an iconic Prime Minister musing over the best way to store your books and an illustrious US President explaining the best works to read outdoors. Enjoy serious speculations on the psychological implications of reading from a 19th century philosopher, and less serious ones concerning the predicament of dispensing with unwanted volumes or the danger of letting children (the ‘enemies of books’) near your collectionAvailable from all good bookshops (please buy local if at all possible) as well as the usual suspects online.
October 10, 2018
Books on Prescription for World Mental Health Day
Books on Prescription helps you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using self-help reading. The books are chosen by health experts and people living with the conditions covered. People can be recommended a title by a health professional, or they can visit their local library and take a book out for free. The scheme is available in 98% of English library authorities.
More at Reading Well here and here
October 8, 2018
October 1, 2018
Sedbergh Book Shelter
Bibliophiles in the community, which claims to have the most books for sale per head of population anywhere in England, have created what is believed to be Cumbria’s first ‘Book Shelter’. The ‘novel’ facility makes use of a redundant bus shelter in the town’s Main Street where locals and visitors have access to four shelves of books. The Book Shelter can be used as a mini library where books can be borrowed and returned or as a book exchange.Incidentally, I shall be doing a book signing at the Sedbergh Book Festival this weekend.
The Westmoreland Gazette
September 20, 2018
Cloud shelf
The Cloud Shelf is Little Grey Cells' debut product. Created by Lauren for her own little boy, Tom, to complete a rainbow painted in his room. It has a classic rounded shape and is a motif evocative of those fuzzy childhood days we remember.
Little Grey Cells
September 17, 2018
Robin Ince's 1000 Book Purge
Book Shambles co-host Robin Ince is a well known bibliophile. The problem with this is it means his house is in danger of collapsing under the weight of books. So he set about trying to part with 1000 books he's never going to get round to reading. So one day, he and producer Trent tried to load 1000 books onto the back deck. It was painful.
Book Shambles
September 10, 2018
Bookshelf Kirk
MDF, welded steel construction, spatula, polyurethane lacquer protected with Anti-Scratch cover Height: 185 cm Length: 130 cm Depth: 40 cm
thisisminimal
August 29, 2018
How 'The Bookshop' was stocked
Tracking down a first-edition copy of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 classic “Lolita” isn’t too difficult. But for her latest film, “The Bookshop,” set in 1959, director Isabel Coixet needed 250 of them. "It took us about a year to get all those books,” the filmmaker tells The Post, adding that she and production designer Llorenç Miquel settled on a mixture of actual vintage tomes and convincing reproductions of the real thing. “It was really important for me to have details that really belonged to the moment of the film — from the food, to the landscapes, to, of course, the books."
More at the New York Post
