Origins of Booklad

Booklad began as a drawing that Nancy Holder gave to us at a book signing at one of my favorite bookstore, Dark Delicacies. It was a drawing that her daughter, Belle, made. My partner (Lisa Morton) and I both loved the drawing and put it on our kitchen bulletin-board where we would see it every day. You can see the drawing just to the left of this text. I've added a little to make the name clearer, but it's pretty close to the original. Although the image is fun, it's the word "booklad" that has stuck with me these last several months. When I was mulling over new projects for the coming year, booklad was there whispering in my ear to start a blog about books. After all, I am a booklad. Books are my life. Every day I talk about books, sell books, alphabetize books, order books, read books, discover new books and look for new books to read. Then when I get off of work, where do you think I go? To the bookstore, of course! A booklad's work is never done.

With this "Booklad" blog, I hope to bring you news from the front lines at the bookstore where I work (Iliad Bookshop), stories of books and book hunting, reviews of interesting books from my own personal library, essays on book aesthetics and book history, and comments on new and unusual books that come my way. I will also have profiles and interviews with writer friends and an ongoing picture essay on "What are you reading?" where I will snap pictures of people I find reading and ask them about themselves and their book. Finally, I hope to learn more about books through this blog. I've always been interested in the history of bookstores, printing and publishing, but I've never studied it carefully. I hope to read extensively in these areas and to bring you my discoveries and commentary. It should be an interesting journey!

And thanks for the great drawing, Belle!