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Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages
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It's happened to all of us: we're reading a book, something interrupts us, and we grab the closest thing at hand to mark our spot. It could be a train ticket, a letter, an advertisement, a photograph, or a four-leaf clover. Eventually the book finds its way into the world-a library, a flea market, other people's bookshelves, or to a used bookstore. But what becomes of thos
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Showing 1-30
This is a book from the guy who blogs about the "weird" things he finds in books as a bookseller. And yet, the things he chooses to highlight in this book are a bit, well, boring. BORING. It is broken into sections and organized well, but lacks contemporary entries. Working in a library, we are often amazed at what we find in the books and none of it is boring. I think this is too serious of an effort.
Here are some of the items I have found in books returned to the library where I work:
-teenage ...more
Here are some of the items I have found in books returned to the library where I work:
-teenage ...more
The little pieces of who we are that we leave behind...excellent look at the things we use as bookmarks!
I received this book as an early Christmas gift from my girlfriend the other day after hinting about it for awhile. After discovering Michael's "Forgotten Bookmarks" blog sometime over the summer, I wanted nothing more than to get this book. I always enjoyed logging into facebook or pulling up the blog and seeing another "bookmark" found that day. It is also great to see that I am not the only one interested in what is left in books from previous owners. Not too long before finding the blog, I c
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What a fun little book! I will have to check out the author's blog.
This book intrigued me, having worked in a used book store before, and having been in the antiques business. It is a fascinating look into the past, at what ephemera gets left behind in books. The fun part was matching the "bookmark" with the book. For instance, in Freud's book Totem and Taboo, a customer card with rules and regulations for a strip club was found. This one made me laugh out loud. But then there are the heartbreaking letters to loved ones that never got sent, or the retyped "A Pr
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Fab little book about some of the odd thing left in books s bookmarks. Highlights include the razor blades,hair net of human hair and a 1918 letter from a soldier during training. Quirky
I found this to be very entertaining. It makes me want to start leaving random "bookmarks" in books that I borrow or pass on.
What a wonderful little find! I've had this on a to-be-read list forever, and while at work yesterday at our main branch, decided it was about time I check it out. If you love history, you'll love this book. Yes, there are some "modern" finds here, too, but the majority of the items presented here are from the early 1900s, if not earlier (some date back to the 1800s!).
Popek has done a wonderful job of simply showing what he's found. There is a picture of the item, sometimes a translation/typed ...more
Popek has done a wonderful job of simply showing what he's found. There is a picture of the item, sometimes a translation/typed ...more
It's everything you thought it would be. A collection of what's left inside books from a bookseller's collection from letters to receipts and more. I like that the letters and writing is typed out alongside it while the photocopy/reprint of the actual letters is there as well to make the connection. It's amazing and curious and wonderfully romantic just don't get within range of my nails to scratch your eyes out (one of my favorite lines from an angry letter!)
And of course the local connections ...more
And of course the local connections ...more
This is a pictorial collection of items found in used books. Michael Popek runs a used bookshop in New York and started keeping a blog about the odd items he found in books, such as personal letters, photographs, drawings, poems, receipts, dog tags (!) and even some money. I spent an enjoyable 20 minutes paging through this book.
I do not scrapbook, neither do I like reading someone's, but this book offered such an interesting excursus into the lives of people who read books that I could not resist the temptation and checked it out ... and read it in one big sitting/lying down session.
Book readers know that we use nearly everything as a bookmark. I am currently using my accident report issued by Springdale police as an Infinite Jest bookmark. Luckily, this is my copy, and I have no intention donating it or reselling i ...more
Book readers know that we use nearly everything as a bookmark. I am currently using my accident report issued by Springdale police as an Infinite Jest bookmark. Luckily, this is my copy, and I have no intention donating it or reselling i ...more
We’ve all done it without a thought. Before pausing in a book, we grab what is nearest and put it between the pages. Maybe it serves as a bookmark for our reading’s duration, or maybe we never pick up the book again. Either way, the erstwhile bookmark stays with the book. Then the book leaves us with that serendipitous bit still resting inside, only to eventually find its way to another owner.
Michael Popek’s Forgotten Bookmarks is an illustrated collection of what Popek has found tucked within b ...more
Michael Popek’s Forgotten Bookmarks is an illustrated collection of what Popek has found tucked within b ...more
This includes a cemetery girl photo, a photo of a woman reading, and a photo of a closed coffin, all found in old books, if you know me, you know I love this stuff! This is an amazing book that reminds me of all the interesting things I've found in old books! I could write a long review of this, but I'll just say, this book is fantastic and if you love old books, you have to read this! I hope there are more books like this! The past is fascinating and is more so when there's mystery and unanswer
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I find this book hard to rate. On one hand, it’s small and easy to read. This is a collection of the unusual finds that the author, a used bookseller, has found in the books. There are bookmarks, naturally, but there are also photos, letters, advertisements, receipts, cards, leaves, razor blades (!), and other ephemera. It is collected in a way that also shows us the book that these various found objects were found in. Most of the time there is little, if any, relationship between the book and t
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Whoever put this together did it as a labor of love for these odd objects of ephemera. I was impressed by the high quality of the photographs and the very serious presentation of each piece. In contrast, look at any issue of Found magazine, which presents similar items in a casual informal way.
The items are grouped by type, such as photos, letters, poems, receipts, etc. and you see both the item discovered and a photo of the book in which it was found. Each item is strange in itself and then se ...more
The items are grouped by type, such as photos, letters, poems, receipts, etc. and you see both the item discovered and a photo of the book in which it was found. Each item is strange in itself and then se ...more
As an avid bookmark collector and a fan of Popek's website I was given this book for Christmas. Michael Popek is a used and rare bookseller and he posts photos and explanations of the emphemera he finds in the books he obtains. This book is a compilation of some of those finds. Fascinating and fun!
This was a very enjoyable book. It lets you have the feeling on snooping on other peoples lives while not actually doing anything wrong. I enjoyed reading other peoples letters and getting to make the back story up for myself. People sure do leave odd things in books!
Very cool! Thank you Jenifer!
Sep 21, 2016
Jennifer
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
non-fiction,
books-about-bks,
writing,
art,
history,
humor,
language,
epistolary,
anthologies,
contains-letters
I found this book charming and intriguing. If you have ever wanted to be a "fly on the wall" this is the book for you.
Michael Popek has been involved with his parents used book store for most of his life. Over the years, he's found a multitude of bookmarks left behind in the used books sold to his store, from old photographs to letters, receipts, gift cards, and advertisements to razor blades. He describes the experience of finding these things as leaving him with "a lingering wonder, a sense of misplaced nostalgia, a touch of the voyeuristic thrill that comes from peeping into someone else's life."
Popek has sh ...more
Popek has sh ...more
I want to find a supply of old books and go through them for the same kind of treasures that this book seller found in books he purchased. People use interesting things as bookmarks. He found letters dating back over 200 years, photos of all ages including daguerretypes (misspelled, but oh, well), contracts, birth certificates, recipes, advertisements and so much more. One I loved was a handwritten invitation that says
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
At 7:30 prompt on Wednesday evening be prepared to ...more
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
At 7:30 prompt on Wednesday evening be prepared to ...more
As a bookworm, I found this book to be an enjoyable way to spend an evening. Although I have seen the author's blog before, I am not an avid reader of it and thus I did not have the same criticisms of the items included in the book that others seem to have. As a historian, I loved seeing how the random ephemera of our lives can be preserved accidentally, although my favorites are when the "bookmark" had an obvious connection to the material. While I like that Popek allows the reader to interpret
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Very interesting. Especially loved the photographs and it kind of makes me sad to know those people are long dead. I hope they've had a fullfilling life (my melancholy may also be because I finished Still Alice yesterday). I had hoped to have some more contemporary entries and more information on what happened to the letter writers (as far as possible).
I once found an old-ish card from a father who had visited Belgium and wrote to his daughter in the UK about what he visited in Belgium. I like ...more
I once found an old-ish card from a father who had visited Belgium and wrote to his daughter in the UK about what he visited in Belgium. I like ...more
This book was not as interesting as I thought it would be. I expected it to have more funny and crazy stuff rather than old photos and papers. The recipes were cool because I love cooking but I felt it was kind of boring otherwise except a few random things throughout. I work for my Mom here and there, who sells used books, and the stuff I've found in books has been pretty freaking cool. Maybe I need to add a blog post here and there of the cool stuff I've found! This book is worth looking throu
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This is a really fun book to slip through. I read the whole thing in about and hour, and it was really charming. I was realized surprised by the personal photos people left in books that ended up at the author's bookshop—so sad! I guess they were using them as bookmarks and forgot them? There was also a shockingly angry letter that made me feel like I was eavesdropping on an illicit conversation, and a delightful handwritten invitation to a party in 1910.
With certain things in this book I couldn't help but think about the person it belonged to and what made them leave that certain thing in the book.
I loved looking at all the old pictures and ads, especially the date on most of them. It's so weird to think that they still exist after all this time.
Strangest thing I found in a book: pamphlet on how to cook a chicken.
I loved looking at all the old pictures and ads, especially the date on most of them. It's so weird to think that they still exist after all this time.
Strangest thing I found in a book: pamphlet on how to cook a chicken.
Fun, quick book! The old books and mementos are a fun connection to the lives of the past. I agree with other reviews that the more recent additions (shopping list, recipes) are unremarkable, though, and could've been omitted.
Boring ...
Not one interesting thing discussed here, could have been presented in a more interesting way . But I'll give 2 stars because the content is consistent with the title, now I know why these people "forgot" those bookmarks, they were useless .
Not one interesting thing discussed here, could have been presented in a more interesting way . But I'll give 2 stars because the content is consistent with the title, now I know why these people "forgot" those bookmarks, they were useless .
What a neat idea, collecting the things found in books. Makes you wonder what happened in the lives of the people who left the items, and also wonder if I’ve ever left something behind!
I wanted to really like this... but overall I wasn't impressed by the "oddness" of the bookmarks. They all seemed pretty ordinary to me.
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Michael Popek is the 34 year-old manager of a family-run used and rare bookstore in Oneonta, N.Y. He has been in the book business since junior high school, when his father bought a vanload of used books at an auction and decided to see if there was any money to be made off them. Since then, his family has built a successful used-book business that combines a brick-and-mortar location with an onli
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