Accessories for Bookworms

Quotation mark earrings, the ultimate bookworm accessory? Not quite...

The New Yorker’s Book Bench has recently linked to an article on Flavorwire called “Design Porn: Accessories for Bookworms”, which showcases such amazing stuff as a gold and black typewriter necklace and quotation mark earrings. Guess what G. will be getting for her birthday…

My love for books has always been a little bit over the top, and extends very much beyond books themselves into anything that looks like, is inspired by, or uses books in its design. For instance, I might be prone to fall in love with a girl wearing the “reading is sexy” T-shirt worn by Rory in Gilmore Girls, or the Lolita clutch, designed by Olympia Le-Tan, which Natalie Portman “clutched” with such literary attitude for the New York premier of Black Swan last year. The clutch in question — a clutch, I am told, is not the same thing as a purse — also comes in other titles, like The Catcher in the Rye, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Dracula, and A Streetcar Named Desire. There’s another fine gift for G., if my budget every reaches 1,250$.

Nothing spruces up an outfit like a book-shaped purse. I mean clutch.

A great website to find more affordable book-inspired miscellanea is The Literary Gift Company, which sells everything from book ends to cufflinks. A favourite of mine is their Literary Map of England, which is made up of 181 names of famous writers. I also love the whole array of Penguin design stuff they sell. The people at Penguin have been really good in strengthening their image in the last few years, and have been using their distinctive backlog of covers as a marketing tool. They’ve been slapping those simple, beige-band-on-bright-background paperback covers on things like mugs, ties, pencils, and wrapping paper. The results are surprisingly attractive. I drink my coffee in a Dubliner’s mug every morning and, let me tell you, it’s a great way to get the inspiration juices flowing early.

Who wouldnt want to drink their coffee in a mug with the retro cover of a well-loved book on it?

I also recently discovered a series of posters called “Required Reading”, sold on the website of Gallery 1988. They are beautiful images inspired by classic novels like Alice in Wonderland, Moby Dick, and Siddhartha. Although none of them are actual book covers, I think they all deserve to be by their sheer originality and stunning aesthetics.

Because books appeal to so many of us in so many ways, clever designers can create an infinite number of objects book lovers will want to have to live in a book-inspired world whenever they aren’t reading. Take, for instance, the “In the Library” perfume, which smells like, well, books. It’s described as “a warm blend of English Novel, Russian & Moroccan Leather Bindings, Worn Cloth and a hint of Wood Polish”. The idea, I must admit, intrigues me. However, my favourite book design accessory, which I have to restrain myself from buying every time I visit the website, is the BookBook: a case for your macbook in the shape of), you guessed it, a book. It protects your computer between two hard, genuine leather covers, and clever little corner elastics means they stay on when you prop up the screen, while the zippers have leather pulls meant to look like bookmarks. Lo and behold, you’ve turned your computer into an elegant, leather-bound volume. When closed, it looks inexpensive and dated — a dissimulative thief protection. Best of all, BookBooks are handmade, and no two are alike!

Amazing, non? I know it sounds like I’ve been paid to say this, but I swear I haven’t. I just really want my family and friends to take the hint and get me a BookBook next year!

If you thought MacBooks were sexy, wait till you see one wrapped up to look like an actual book!