“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
As someone who promises herself to read more in every New Year Resolution, but finds it hard to participate in global dialogue while living in Vilnius, I do my best to stay updated on book culture, which starts but does not end with researching authors or particular subjects. And so, this post is on niche little things related with the passion for a good read rather than a particular book titles.
Though I come from a family of 3 scientists and 1 illustrator (that would be me), I wont pretend I read this blog constantly, but I do look at it once in a while. Because vintage science illustrations and info-graphics are pretty. And because this blog reminds me of amount of subjects, books, and authors I had no idea about, which is good for moving forward, as my head was always full of random facts rather than structured information, and I don't plan to change that anytime soon. The Science Book Store blog was started by owners of JF Ptak Science Books store that specializes in 'unusual, rare and unique material in the sciences and the history of science, with strong concentrations in quantum theory, astrophysics, atomic physics, computer science and thermodynamics. Also of principle interest are the developing years of new fields of science and technology–the telephone to 1890, computer science to 1955, telegraphy to 1870, automobiles to 1900, powered heavier-than-air flight to 1920, space flight to 1962, and so on.'*
My favorite Categories would be:
Bad ideas (just because someone actually thought of it as a separate category),
Art History (because the angle here is different from other Art History blogs),
Color Theory (can't blame me, I'm just an illustrator starving for any visual inspiration), and
History of Nothing (because nothing could attract one's attention more than
Nothing). Posts are mostly based on particular books and authors, give it a try, at least scroll through it, and you'll see that a word "science" will not be the same word anymore.
Underground read:
A visual blog by Ourit Ben-Haim, focusing on people reading in the underground: 'The Underground New York Public Library is a photo series featuring the Reading-Riders of the NYC subways. The photos come together as a visual library. This library freely lends out a reminder that we’re capable of traveling to great depths within ourselves and as a whole.'*. What I love about it, is that next to every photograph, there is a book title. A book becomes more than a creation of an author: it's meaning is changed by a person who reads it in that very moment - how a person looks, how he or she stands and holds a book, how shabby the book cover is, and what surrounds the reader adds a different angle to every title. Reading is a journey and this blog is exactly about that.
P.S.I never was able to read a book in public transport (or in any transport), well, I thought I wasn't, until my Kindle met a trolleybus.
Digging for a good read:
Brain Pickings is 'your cross-disciplinary LEGO treasure chest, full of pieces spanning art, design, science, technology, philosophy, history, politics, psychology, sociology, ecology, anthropology, and more; pieces that enrich your mental pool of resources and empower combinatorial ideas that are stronger, smarter, richer, deeper and more impactful.'* by Maria Popova and occasional guest contributors. Though a description of the blog may seem very wide and unfocused, but Brain Pickings is a great place for those who start researching on one of its subjects (for academical essay or any other reason) - beautifully put accents and tons of references will help you find what you're looking for or what you even didn't know you're looking for, even if the information is outside of the blog.
P.S. This blog is responsible for me coming across with modern classics, such as Susan Sontag essays, which I'll be grateful to Maria Popova for the rest of my life.
A beautiful read:
(Because everyone has picked up a book based on it's cover at least once)
This blog is a never ending course on how words can be translated into visuals and how one can be intrigued by the translation. I find this blog better than fffffound or any other collection of graphic images online, because it is so so good - it is a book cover genre at it's best. And to be honest, a good book cover is one of the last reasons I actually do buy a paper copy of a book once in a while instead of downloading it straight to my kindle in few seconds. And by buying I mean going to a local book store, ordering a book from overseas, waiting for it for 4 weeks and paying for it much more than an e-book would cost. Why? - Just because I could own a book cover that will be hidden in a bookshelf, and only me will know about it hiding there. You may say its superficial and you may be right, but a good book cover, where type meets a title, and one's own fantasy is inspired by a visual based on someone's own interpretation (before even starting to read the text inside), is a message and an experience on its own rights, and this blog shows exactly that. My personal favorites are:
Amerika, Author: Franz Kafka
Publisher: Penguin Classics, Publication Date: November 30, 1999, Genre: Fiction
Design Info:Photographer: Jacob Sutton, Designer: Mother, Typeface: Hand Lettered
Milk, Author: Anne Mendelson,
Publisher: Knopf Publication, Date: October 7, 2008, Genre: Non-Fiction,
Design Info: Designer: Barbara DeWilde
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“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
