Plankje Ongeregeld

Catch your fancy? (4)

Measuring lights 06 by Chrissy Angliker / Linen 'T' Towel by spinspin / Fringe Alchemy Soap for Anthropologie (via oh joy!) / Organic honey packaging designed by Marcel Buerkle (via little brown pen)

Quote du jour

'There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.'

Christopher Morley

Living the fairy tale in 2009

Re Jin is the founder of Bailey Doesn't Bark, a tableware, home accessories and stationery company, for which she does all the design work too. I find myself particularly drawn to the Teabag Series.

I just found out that Re Jin also did a few guest posts for the well-known blog design* sponge. You can definitely see she used to work in the fashion industry, as she has amassed designs and products inspired by the classic fairy tales. Love the concept!

I wouldn't mind having the modern Little Mermaid's bathroom with that sea view. Imagine spending many a happy hour soaking in that tub, cup of tea within reach, listening to a fun audio book and gazing out of the window... Check out the contemporary versions of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Cinderella too.

(Illustration: Maxfield Parrish)

Readers' delight (4)

© Yulia ♥

Reader Lying Down

Edgar DEGAS (1834-1917)

Private collection

Cover Candy......omdat covers op zich ook wonderschoon kunnen zijn

Conspicuous Consumption
Thorstein Veblen
Penguin Books, 2005

Bloggers Read & Tell (5) - Minerva

In today's interview we'll learn more about the reading habits of Minerva, author of the recently and beautifully revamped blog Mama Without Borders. She'll be premiering two now series very soon: 'Creative Moms' and 'Kids' reading nooks', which I'm particularly excited about. So watch that space people! Minerva, a lifelong reader herself, writes warmly about sharing her book love with her children and documents their bookish adventures on the blog. I'd love to find out if the little ones take after their mom and are getting their reading material wet too!-)

Do you like to eat while reading? What's your snack of choice?
Yes, I do enjoy the occasional snack while reading, preferably something I can easily eat, like pastries or cookies. Sometimes, I will actually eat a whole meal if I'm trying to multi-task while reading but I find that eating can often be distracting and just try to hurry up and eat so I can focus on my book. I'm not as die-hard of a reader as I was when I was a child. Back then, I was known to read while doing almost anything, including walking to school and taking a shower (!!!).

What conditions do you find most conducive to reading? Describe your ideal reading moment.

Well, I have two young kids (ages 1 and 3) now, so there are few ideal reading moments in my life, but I find the time to read everyday at least a little bit. Maybe I'll wake up a little earlier, or stay up way too late if a book is particularly engrossing. Sometimes, I will sneak in a quick read while my kids are busy with something like watching the trash truck on our street. But the ideal conditions would be me on my comfy couch in the family room, with a blanket and at least two hours to read with no interruptions.

Do you have a guilty literary pleasure (a book, writer or even genre you love but are just a tad embarrassed about)?

This is not quite literary, but I read too many magazines and blogs. They are guilty pleasures only because they steal time away from literary reading.

Is there a book you feel you really ought to have read by now but just can't seem to bring yourself to start reading/a book you really don't want to read, ever? And why is that? 

Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez. I actually debated with myself over whether I should watch the movie without having read the book. In the end I decided to watch it because it will be a long time before I try reading the book again. I did try to read it years ago in Spanish, which was a total mistake. I am a fluent Spanish speaker, but what is considered "fluent Spanish" is just not the same thing as García Márquez's Spanish. I had a dictionary for the first one or two chapters and used it so much that reading the book began to feel like a dreaded assignment.

Books are full of words (simply put that is), is there a word in the English language you're particularly fond of?

Wow, great question. I profess to love words but don't think I have one favorite word. I'll have to think about that.

Have you ever run into a fictional character that annoyed or enraged you to the point you wanted to scream 'snap out of it already!' or made you want to throw the book away in disgust? Who and why? 

Jessica in Now You See It, by Allison Lynn. She leaves her husband without a word, one day while he is away on a work trip. Though their marriage wasn't as close emotionally as it should've been, I just couldn't see how she could be so cowardly to walk away from something without dealing with it first.

How do you mark your page? 

I may put a bookmark in it or whatever stray paper I have lying around, but often nothing at all. I will remember from the place where the book falls open.

Is there an image of someone reading a book that you have never forgotten (painting, picture, movie scene, book passage, real life...) 

Strangely, it is a painting of me done by one of my best friends in high school. She had taken a photo of me reading a book, then decided it would make a good portrait painting for her art class. I've hoped since then she would give it to me or even sell it to me, but I think she keeps it as a memento of her painting days. (ed: picture of the painting is shown above)

You're in a bookstore and can buy just one book for just one person. What book would you buy and for whom? 

Ooh, this is tough. I always find it hard to limit myself in a bookstore. I guess it would be Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet and I would give it to my kids. They would have to share. Even if they didn't become writers, the advice is good for any young person just starting out.

Finish the sentence: 'Reading is...' 

more necessary to me than a bed." I once said this as I had found a new job 1,000 miles away from my current home. My new employers had offered to pay to move 1,000 pounds of my things to my new home. I told my mom I would happily give up my bed to make sure all my boxes of books went with me. Thankfully, it didn't come to that but I was willing to do it.

Bonus question: What are you reading right now?

Antigua and My Life Before by Marcela Serrano, Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina López and The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor by Gail McMeekin.

Thanks very much Minerva!

(Illustration: Minerva & Sherri Cho)

Catch your fancy? (3)

I've decided to make some changes to my Catch your fancy? series and will from now on be adding all pictures to the blog post itself. This way you immediately get a good overview of my most recent finds. And of course you can still click through to the original sources. As a matter of fact, I strongly recommend you do so, treasure troves await you!

Let me know what you think?

Chocolate wrappers by Chocolate Research Facility (via Laissezfaire) / Maple wood laminated bottles by Andrée Rouette (via Design is Mine) / Handmade birthday invitations by Elisabeth Dunker and her son (via {frolic!}) / Vintage flashcards from Ipso Facto (via apartment therapy)

Readers' delight (3)

© *iFatma

Library nostalgia

I think I'm in trouble! A while back I found this Catalog Card Generator on blyberg.net. Well, I've just created my very first vintage library card and all of a sudden I find myself coveting wooden file-card holders, a bit of wear and tear no objection, to give these beauties a worthy home.

Be warned people, this is one addictive little toy! 

Have a waffle, and a book

It's pouring with rain here. And they're throwing in a thunderstorm for good measure too. But I can't say I mind one bit. Ian Sansom's The Case of the Missing Books is calling my name (picked it up yesterday at the Boekenfestijn), I'm going to plop myself down on the couch, homemade miniwaffles within arm's reach, and just stay in tonight. 

How about you? Hope you have a lovely weekend!

(Image: Plankje Ongeregeld / Book cover: HarperCollins & Milan Bozie)

Bloggers Read & Tell (4) - Holly Marie Gibbs

After a bit of a hiatus - exciting changes ahead! - I decided to jump right in again with the fourth instalment of Bloggers Read & Tell. And I couldn't have asked for a better interviewee than Holly Marie Gibbs of the cre8tive. We recently met during Holly Becker's outstanding Blogging Your Way e-course and quickly discovered we both have a thing for exceptionally fine typography and packaging, scrumptious gelato (yes, the packaging is delicious too) and, dare I state the obvious... books, of course. 

Do you like to eat while reading? What's your snack of choice? 

I try not to eat while reading for fear of messing up my pages [as I am very fond of collecting books], but sometimes hunger strikes and resistance is futile. My favorite snacks while reading would probably be hummus and pita or orange sherbet. 

What conditions do you find most conducive to reading? Describe your ideal reading moment. 

I love to read on my porch with a cup of tea, a cool breeze blowing and my two dogs laying at my feet. My ideal reading moment involves minimal distractions and nothing to do but soak up a great novel and forget about everything else! 

Do you have a guilty literary pleasure (a book, writer or even genre you love but are just a tad embarrassed about)? 

I do, and since I consider myself a pretty avid reader, it's definitely embarrassing. Upon the suggestion of a friend, I picked up the Twilight series and was not able to put it down. The story was just so addicting. I literally stayed up until 4 a.m. with one of the books — I was a mess. I'm also a big fan of chick-lit... the brainless reading that's perfect for a day at the beach and has absolutely zero literary value. 

Is there a book you feel you really ought to have read by now but just can't seem to bring yourself to start reading/a book you really don't want to read, ever? And why is that? 

I have been 'getting around' to reading The Great Gatsby for about seven years now. I picked up the book on tape a few weeks ago and have been listening to it on my way to work, but it still hasn't got me. I know if I get into it I will love it, but I just haven't dove in far enough yet. A book I have zero interest in reading, ever? I picked up Prozac Nation once and forced myself through two chapters. When I finished reading the second chapter and put the book down feeling absolutely depressed, I realized it just wasn't for me. I don't think I'll ever be revisiting that one.

Books are full of words (simply put that is), is there a word in the English language you're particularly fond of? 

There are so many, I can't even think of them all right now. I am always coming across words that I love and they are sprinkled all over the pages of my notebooks and the margins of my lists. Some of my favorites, off the top of my head, are: debacle, humdrum, trinket, rogue, panache, hogwash, haberdashery, sprinkle and atone. There are many, many more. I love how diverse the English language is. 

Have you ever run into a fictional character that annoyed or enraged you to the point you wanted to scream 'snap out of it already!' or made you want to throw the book away in disgust? Who and why? 

There's one book that will forever be burned into my memory because reading it was like a car crash — tragic, and yet you can't seem to look away. The book was called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, and it was a collection of true stories in the life of a fraternity-type guy named Tucker Max. It was absolutely vile, especially the way he treated women, and yet I remember reading it and thinking, "There are really guys out there who think this way! These are people I want to avoid! I have to keep reading so I know as much as I can about jerks like this." The weirdest part is that I actually caught myself laughing at parts of the book because the guy is pretty funny. Then I realized that my reaction was probably how he sucked people into liking him. I ran away, fast. 

How do you mark your page? 

I hate to admit this, but I usually dog-ear it. It's a bad habit and I try to remember to use a bookmark (my go-to bookmark is a magazine subscription card), especially when a book is on loan. 

Is there an image of someone reading a book that you have never forgotten (painting, picture, movie scene, book passage, real life...) 

There is, and I'll include it as an attachment. It's a photo of my father and I on the beach when I was a baby. He's reading aloud and I keep stealing his hat off his head, and [as my mother tells it] I would proceed to get upset every time he stopped reading to get his hat back. Then I would steal it again :o) It's one of my favorite photos of us.

You're in a bookstore and can buy just one book for just one person. What book would you buy and for whom? 

I would buy The Glass Castle for my sister. It's a book that I've read a few times and loved every time. It's a very sad story, but I'm a big fan of stories about personal struggles and families. 

Finish the sentence: 'Reading is...' 

...essential! My father was both an English professor and a librarian, so I have always been surrounded by books. I go to them to unwind, to go on adventure, to learn and to forget. I couldn't imagine not having a deep and profound love for literature and all it has to offer.

Bonus question: What are you reading right now?

There are about 6 books I've just bought and can't wait to get into, but right now its Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. It is hilarious! 

Thanks very much Holly!

(Illustration: Silke Leffler - Image: Holly Marie Gibbs)

Cover Candy......omdat covers op zich ook wonderschoon kunnen zijn

Bodies
Susie Orbach
Picador, 2009

Girl in a Red Dress Reading by a Swimming Pool

Sir John LAVERY (1856-1941)

Privécollectie

Poëzie: de strijd tegen clichés

Klara in de clinch met clichés over dichters en dichten...

Fijne gedichtendag iedereen!

A New Year

© Raeting

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year!

Catch your fancy? (2)

• Book Project Four (Jen Khoshbin), via Ali Loves Curtis
• Decorate with books (Time Out), via apartment therapy
• Verbarius text clock (Art Lebedev), via apartment therapy
• Alphabetical paperclips (Stephen Reed), via Charles & Marie
• Wall of names (Alon & Rachel Munzer), via apartment therapy
• Stacked (Paul Octavious), via oh joy!
• Fonts gifts at Carolina Cottage
• Initially necklace at curlygirlglass
• Initial mugs (Clifford Richards), via Elle Decoration
• Falling words (Letras Caindo), via Laissezfaire

The tiranny of the to-read pile

'...I'm similarly haunted by a copy of The Spire by William Golding. My failure here is made even more irksome because when I picked the book up (three years ago) in the lovely Priestpopple Books in Hexham the man behind the till laughed at me and said: "Good luck with that." He clearly didn't know what kind of an intellectual giant he was dealing with, I thought, as I pocketed it. I intended to munch it within a week – and enjoy it. But since then, I've found that the splashes of turquoise on the cover have put me off. It's really not a colour I like...' 

Sam Jordison in The Guardian, 8 december 2008 

Heel herkenbaar, isn't it?

Cover Candy......omdat covers op zich ook wonderschoon kunnen zijn

Ella Minnow Pea
Mark Dunn
Methuen Publishing Ltd, 2003

Filmboeken

1. Moving Music. Beroemde filmcomponisten aan het woord - Diverse auteurs
2. The Book of Dreams - Federico Fellini
3. Dagboek van een duizendkunstenaar / 1942-1954 - Jean Cocteau
4. Art by Film Directors - Karl French
5. The Film Club: A Memoir - David Gilmour
6. The Wildlife of Star Wars - Terryl Whitlatch
7. De verlichte stad. Een geschiedenis van bioscopen, filmvertoningen en filmcultuur in Vlaanderen - Daniël Biltereyst & Philippe Meers
8. Film Noir - Alain Silver & James Ursini
9. Seen Behind the Scene - Mary Ellen Mark
10. Luis Buñuel - Bill Krohn

It happens to the best of them

Dit artikel lag al een tijdje op mijn 'to read pile': een hart onder de riem voor elke afgewezen schrijver...

'"This time there's no point in trying to be kind," it said. "Your manuscript is utterly hopeless as a candidate for our list. I never thought the subject worth a damn to begin with and I don't think it's worth a damn now. Lay off, MacDuff."'

Uit No thanks, Mr. Nabokov, van David Oshinsky.

Breiboeken

1. Passie voor breien: inspirerende ontwerpen en creatieve oefeningen - Leigh Radford (vert. Marjan Faddegon)
2. Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
3. Breien voor een sfeervol interieur - Suss Cousins (vert. Ann Van Doorslaer)
4. The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using and Enjoying Yarn - Clara Parkes
5. Alle steken op een rij - Maria Parry-Jones (vert. Marjan Faddegon)
6. Not Your Mama's Knitting: The Cool and Creative Way to Pick Up Sticks - Heather Dixon
7. Lekker knusse sjaals breien - Candi Jensen
8. Knitting over the Edge: Unique Ribs, Cords, Appliques, Colors, Eclectic - Nicky Epstein
9. Pretty in Punk: 25 Punk, Rock, and Goth Knitting Projects - Alyce Benevides & Jaqueline Milles
10. Knitting Circles Around Socks: Knit Two at a Time on Circular Needles - Antje Gillingham

En de Nobelprijs voor literatuur 2008 gaat naar...

... de Franse auteur Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio.

De Zweedse academie omschreef hem als 'auteur van nieuwe vertrekpunten, poëtisch avontuur en zinnelijke extase'.

Een kort interview met de winnaar kun je hier beluisteren.

© C. Hélie Gallimard COUL

Het Andere Boek 2008

Het Andere Boek is al lang geen onbekende meer bij boekenliefhebbers, toch?

Dit weekend kun je weer lekker rondneuzen op deze boekenbeurs met stands van meer dan honderd uitgeverijen, antiquariaten en literaire organisaties. Er worden tientallen binnen- en buitenlandse auteurs verwacht, verder zijn er ook interviews, lezingen, debatten en signeersessies. 

Zaterdag 4 oktober van 10.00 u tot 19.00 u. 

Zondag 5 oktober van 10.00 u tot 18.00 u. 

In het Wereldculturencentrum Zuiderpershuis in Antwerpen.

An Elegant Lady Reading Under a Tree

Karl RAUPP (1837-1918)

Privécollectie

Boekenbeurs 2008

Sinds zondag is de boekenbeurswebsite 2008 online, voor Plankje een teken dat de herfst er nu echt aan zit te komen. Aaah, laat ze maar komen, die luie zondagmiddagen op de bank met een dekentje, iets chocolatey en een dik boek!

De 72ste boekenbeurs loopt van vrijdag 31 oktober tot en met dinsdag 11 november 2008. Nog tijd genoeg dus om de site te doorploegen en alvast wat research te doen.

En vergeet vooral niet mee te doen aan de wedstrijd waarmee je een van de 50 gratis toegangskaarten kunt winnen.

Catch your fancy? (1)

Anything that has even remotely to do with books, writing, reading, typography,... is bound to pique my interest. And let me tell you, there are loads of blogs and websites out there that know where to find the good stuff, so it gets piqued plenty!

Catch your fancy? is a new list feature on Plankje in which I will be sharing some of my finds with you. Give me a shout if you see anything you like?

• Filing cabinet with the big S on top (Tonya Hinde), via desire to inspire 
• Building blocks (Paloma's Nest) and the Create Philosophy Mug (Paper Source), via perfectbound
  
• Claudia's egg, via sweet paul
  
• The Astygmate cushion (Bonjour Mon Coussin), via emmas designblogg
  
• Penguin book covers, via Freshly Blended
  
• Sculpture made from postcards and envelopes (Jennifer Collier), via Bientôt Demain
  
• Photogram alphabet (Dutch Osborne), via Design is Mine
  
• Chocolate scrabble (Mary & Matt), via LaissezFaire
  
• Bubble calendar (Bubble Calendar), via LaissezFaire
  
• Letter-shaped side tables (Andrew Martin), via apartmenttherapy

Penguin turns matchmaker

With the launch of www.penguindating.co.uk, Penguin will offer readers a place to meet and indulge in the age old art of writing love letters as the boom in online dating fast restores the importance of the written word to modern courtship.

To help them in their quest to find a fellow literary lover, Penguin readers will be asked to write about the last book they read in their profile and can use match.com's 'matchwords' search feature to hunt through the site's thousands of registered profiles by their favourite book, be it Adele Parks or Kafka.

Penguin's Digital Marketing Director Anna Rafferty said: "Sometimes a book is a disposable adventure, an entertaining, temporary distraction that you don't think about again once you've read the last page.  But sometimes a book means so much more; at Penguin we believe that the books we cherish and read over and over, those that we feel a deep emotional connection with, say something defining about us and the type of people we are.  'What are you reading / what did you last read / who's your favourite author?' are all standard first date questions and what better way to find your life partner than over a shared love for Lawrence or a passion for Pynchon?  We knew there was an opportunity for this type of service for our audience, and the Penguin community provides the perfect forum to meet a likeminded special someone."

What do you think:  
0 Why didn't they think of this sooner! 
0 Just another online dating service!

Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946)

'What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.'

 

Nieuwe Dimitri Verhulst eerst bij Humo

Op 23 september verschijnt in België de nieuwe roman van Dimitri Verhulst, Godverdomse dagen op een godverdomse bol. Het boek van Verhulst, auteur van de zeer succesvolle roman De helaasheid der dingen, belooft de sensatie van het literaire najaar te worden en zal gratis gesealed bij de Humo van die week te krijgen zijn. De oplage bedraagt ruim 300.000 exemplaren. Een wereldprimeur!

Dimitri Verhulst reageerde onmiddellijk enthousiast op het voorstel van Humo. Ook Uitgeverij Contact is zeer ingenomen met de actie: 'Je zou willen dat iemand met het talent van Dimitri Verhulst door miljoenen gelezen wordt, dus dit is een leuk begin.'

Op 30 september, een week na de actie bij Humo, is Godverdomse dagen op een godverdomse bol ook in een gebonden editie (€ 18,95) in de boekhandel verkrijgbaar, in België en Nederland.