Books and Their Covers

I've recently discovered the joys of Library Thing. I actually stumbled across it quite a while ago and was intimidated by the scale of the website and putting in my books. Then I saw a book widget on another blog and suddenly I was hooked.

You see, I love books. Really love books. I have an inherited problem whereby I find it next to impossible to pass a bookshop without entering and buying books. So much so that as an English Lit student at Edinburgh Uni I used to avoid walking on the same side of the street as the Waterstones on Princes Street. There is one at either end so I knew I was safe if I stuck to the middle (but I often lapsed - and that's not mentioning Thins, and the smaller equally yummy bookshops around George Square).

I love text, I like how it looks, even from before I could read or write. Books to me are almost too good to be read. When I look at a book I see the endless possibilities of what is within it. I almost don't want to read it because I don't want to be disappointed. But I also cannot wait to read it. That's why my favourite books are so inherently exciting to me because they fulfilled my dream of what they could be and why the ones that let me down are so disappointing. Have you ever noticed the emphasis that is always placed on settling down with a good book- what if its not?

I also love book covers. I like the different designs and graphics and I know "Never judge a book by its cover". I'm sorry but I do. There I said it! What a book looks like and feels like and what the typeface is so important to me.

I was lucky to have the most fantastic job during my masters. I worked in the university library's conservation department. My job was to repair the library's book collection. I had to mend tears, restitch book blocks, mend covers. I loved it. I was even luckier in that the guys who ran the department were not only the nicest guys and great for a laugh but also were kind enough to teach me how to make a book from scratch. I learnt how to make a small 'normal' sized book which I gave to Dazza for his birthday a few years back. And they helped me make our wedding album - which is huge.