Those who follow me on Twitter (@emilylovesbooks) know that one of my favorite things to do on my commute is what I call “book-spot.” I snoop to try to see what other people on the train are reading, and then tweet about it using the hashtag I created, #bookspotting.
Many others have joined in, especially fellow New Yorker, Amanda.
I’m telling you this back story because this week one of my co-workers (who is well aware of my book-spotting tendencies too) got me something so totally cool. They are book jackets from www.bookcityjackets.com in Brooklyn. First of all, this is a really cool store. Here’s the info from their about page:
Book City Jackets are updated versions of the classic paper bag book cover. Our goal is turn books into a new kind of affordable art that can be displayed on bookshelves and coffee tables, in cafes and classrooms, on planes and trains . . . anywhere people bring their books. Our covers are off-set printed on recycled kraft paper in downtown New York and “fold-to-fit” almost any book. A Book City Jacket isn’t just beautiful — it also protects from spilled drinks and prying eyes and provides a convenient space to doodle and jot down notes. Book covers were a good idea in junior high school and they’re a good idea now.
The set that I received are, in my opinion, the most awesome. It is the Reading List set, and it enables you to cover your book with the titles of three mega-classics: Moby Dick, War & Peace, and Ulysses:
These are so fun, and a way to either protect your copies of some of the world’s most respected novels, or throw book-spotters off your trail as you read some guilty pleasures. I think I’ll do the latter :)
What a great gift for any book lover!
Those are really neat! A great way to hide a guilty pleasure…
Those look super! I checked out the other options; and although I like the reading list set the best, they’re all pretty neat.
I liked reading about your hobby of book-spotting :) I do that myself too, and have had a few interesting conversations with strangers in cafes, because both of us were book-spotting each other :) (Once, I remember I was reading ‘The Half-Blood Prince’ and a guy in the next table was reading a different edition of the same, at the time the book was released and our mutual book-spotting resulted in some interesting conversation).
Using book covers is a wonderful idea to throw a book-spotter off one’s trail. They look quite beautiful too! I liked the last sentence in the excerpt from their website that you have given – ‘Book covers were a good idea in junior high school and they’re a good idea now.’ :)
Hi, your blog is really great. I love it, I just started one as well, its link is http://wordivore.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out.
:D
Oh I love these! Too funny. I get annoyed when I can’t see what eReader people are reading. I get a little embarrassed when I’m reading a YA book or something odd. Love these!