Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, in which we all talk about a bookish topic and have fun making lists. And this week we’re talking about things that make our bookish hearts glow!
This week’s we’re celebrating bookishness in all its forms (except books and bookworms). So what things have delighted me recently?
It’s no secret that SF/F book covers can be spectacularly over the top. Good Show Sir is a celebration of the lurid, the ludicrous and the extravagant. Expect vintage pulp delights. Or horrors, depending on your perspective. What were they thinking?
This talented chap writes teeny tiny tweet-length stories that rarely fail to bring a smile to my face. Flash fiction dreams of being this concise.
Book-inspired soaps
@EffingRainbow brought Lady MacBeth’s Guest Soap to my attention and then I went ahead and fell in love with the whole collection. This is the best packaging ever.
It sometimes feels like you either LibraryThing or you Goodread, but I want to make a case for doing both. I’m biased – I’ve cataloged my books on LibraryThing since it’s earliest days, and I find it much easier to keep track of books I own here than Goodreads. The social focus is secondary to cataloging, but it’s introduced me to some of my favourite bookworms.
Bookish fridge magnets
I enthused about The Order of the Stick last week, but I remain delighted on a daily basis by the fridge magnets I got for advance ordering / supporting the Kickstarter for the printed collections. I am so sad I don’t also have the Belkar one, but Elan and Roy put a smile on my face every time I go to the fridge.
Another great resource for seeing if a book you loved is now available in ebook format (Kindle, Kobo or Nook!). This is a manually maintained labour of love by @quartzen. The focus is on smaller presses and self publishing, but the intent is for a comprehensive list (eventually. Day jobs, etc. Full disclosure: I lend a hand with UK availability).
Bookmarks
I’m rubbish at using bookmarks – when I’m not reading on my Kindle, I usually use an expired train ticket, a receipt or whatever is handy – but I do love this classy little bookmark that sits in pride of place on my bookshelves.
Can’t keep track of Amazon’s constant changes in ebook availability and pricing? Now you don’t have to. You can tell eReaderIQ to watch for specific books, authors or price drops and wait for it to draw your attention to a bargain or to your favourite classic being released for Kindle.
Bookish artwork
Cover art, book-inspired art, art by book lovers – it’s a source of beauty and wonder. I love work as varied as the dreamy epic fantasy scapes of Geoff Taylor (right) but one of my current favourites is the talented @likhain (left).
I’ll leave you with this gorgeous postcard by @likhain:
