Book Binding
So, I have been really upset with the idea that books are taking the electronic form by storm. "Ebooks are the way to go!"
Well, I have other thoughts in that area. I have an ebook reader, the ability to read ebooks and such, and I have yet to get through an entire book reading it in electronic format. Why? Well there are a lot of reasons for this, mostly its because I have rituals I do when I read.
If you really get down to it, the reasons I love the actual feel of a book in my hands and read more readily a hardcopy version rather than an e-version, are clearly explained in Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke.
My rituals when reading: First I get the book and I flip all the pages from front to back and digest the sent of it as it wafts from the breeze I make. I examine the cover, read the back a few times, and then I delve into the meat of the book. After every chapter I page through the book and look at the beginning of every chapter, examining how many pages each chapter is and how far away I am from the middle and end of the book. Then when I have read enough I flip through the pages that I have read which gives me a sense of satisfaction of having read so much. Around the midway point I flip the pages I have left constantly, sensing the imminent end of the book drawing closer and closer.
I can't get all of that from looking at the bottom of a screen and it saying "28% completed."
Ebook will never hold a candle to the real thing for me. It just isn't going to happen.
So in an attempt to stave off this unfortunate format of book (which seems to be the only format for some books now, at the moment mine included) I have decided to start binding my own books.
When visiting my uncle in Seattle, WA, I was able to go to an art supply store and buy a spectacular array of items needed for bookbinding, which was great because I can't acquire such things in my town. I decided to try an see what I could do with the book I bought on binding books and I made 2 pretty great looking books. I am kind of a fan of exposed binding on books so I left the ones I made exposed.
Bound my ebook, Dyllys, for a good friend of mine, and then bound together my electronic journal for 2010. I love it and can't wait to find another excuse to bind another book.
Printing the signatures, on the other hand, is not my favorite thing to do.
My hand bound book Dyllys:
My journal for 2010:
Well, I have other thoughts in that area. I have an ebook reader, the ability to read ebooks and such, and I have yet to get through an entire book reading it in electronic format. Why? Well there are a lot of reasons for this, mostly its because I have rituals I do when I read.
If you really get down to it, the reasons I love the actual feel of a book in my hands and read more readily a hardcopy version rather than an e-version, are clearly explained in Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke.
My rituals when reading: First I get the book and I flip all the pages from front to back and digest the sent of it as it wafts from the breeze I make. I examine the cover, read the back a few times, and then I delve into the meat of the book. After every chapter I page through the book and look at the beginning of every chapter, examining how many pages each chapter is and how far away I am from the middle and end of the book. Then when I have read enough I flip through the pages that I have read which gives me a sense of satisfaction of having read so much. Around the midway point I flip the pages I have left constantly, sensing the imminent end of the book drawing closer and closer.
I can't get all of that from looking at the bottom of a screen and it saying "28% completed."
Ebook will never hold a candle to the real thing for me. It just isn't going to happen.
So in an attempt to stave off this unfortunate format of book (which seems to be the only format for some books now, at the moment mine included) I have decided to start binding my own books.
When visiting my uncle in Seattle, WA, I was able to go to an art supply store and buy a spectacular array of items needed for bookbinding, which was great because I can't acquire such things in my town. I decided to try an see what I could do with the book I bought on binding books and I made 2 pretty great looking books. I am kind of a fan of exposed binding on books so I left the ones I made exposed.
Bound my ebook, Dyllys, for a good friend of mine, and then bound together my electronic journal for 2010. I love it and can't wait to find another excuse to bind another book.
Printing the signatures, on the other hand, is not my favorite thing to do.
My hand bound book Dyllys:
My journal for 2010:
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