book recommendation: bibliomania

"He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odor, its form, its title. What he loved in a manuscript was its old illegible date, the bizarre and strange Gothic characters, the heavy gilding which loaded its drawings. It was its pages covered with dust -- dust of which he breathed the sweet and tender perfume with delight." -Excerpt from Bibliomania, by Gustave Flaubert

I like to read but, oh, I love books. Gustave Flaubert's Bibliomania, a slim volume that I found while rooting through the stacks at a book fair a few years ago, speaks to me perfectly. It's the based-on-a-true-story of Giacomo, a bookseller whose passion for books drives him to the brink of insanity. It is funny and dark and even has a little twist at the end. It's full of little gems that will warm the heart of any true bibliophile. If you are a lover of books, this is definitely one you want to have in your library.

P.S. So sorry for the quiet blog! Things have been busy around here - mostly just trying to keep up with my child, who, once he learned how to pull himself up, determined that EVERY OBJECT IN OUR HOME was placed there for his own personal climbing pleasure. (Stack of folded towels? Clearly a jungle gym, duh. Vacuum cleaner? Rock climbing wall, obviously. Computer cords? Rope ladder, of course.) Oh, and did I mention that he recently got two razor-sharp teeth? And that I'm still breastfeeding? And he's very aggressive? Sigh. This too shall pass, right?

I've also been challenging myself to take more pictures, and experimenting with new ways to display them -- like the square crop and the diptych, both of which I'm absolutely loving (seen above).

[Photos by me, taken August 2009]