In Defense of the Book: A mission statement of sorts

Since I was a child I was fascinated by reading. I remember so distinctly tucking a paperback into the waistband of my jeans before climbing up to my special reading spot: a perfectly formed branch high in a tree in my parent's backyard. I would settle back into the boughs with the latest Judy Bloom and spend hours reading and eating snacks that my very indulgent mom would send up on a bucket tied to a pole. Every so often I would lose my grasp on the book while otherwise focused on unwrapping a Starburst or something and the book would fall to the ground, forcing me to roust myself and begin the arduous climb down to retrieve it.

With the advent of e-reading devices  such as the Kindle, Nook and CyBook, the modern reading experience has changed forever. Hundreds of books, an entire library, can exist in a razor thin tablet weighing only a few ounces. The technology is actually quite impressive; the "e-ink" used allows the text to appear on the screen glare free, and there is no more damaged book spine from efforts to contort a paperback into a more wield-able read.

Back to Basics: How to open a book for the first time

I get it. We the people of the technology age, we know how to download a novel, sync it, link it, upload and download it all over again. So how could anyone possibly screw up something as simple as opening a book?

You'd be surprised.

If a book is well bound, the binding will be tight and rigid at first. Without properly limbering the book up a bit first, you risk damaging the structure of the binding and ultimately, the book itself.

Welcome to the Nook!

Bibliophile: noun
a lover of books especially for qualities of format; also : a book collector.

Welcome to the Bookkeeper's Nook, where you will learn how to take those dusty old books you picked up at flea markets, used bookstores or your neighbor's estate sale and either refurbish them to thier former state of glory, or up-cycle them into a whole new work of art.


With the advent of new technology such as the Kindle or Nook, books have begun to fall by the mainstream wayside. If you miss the feel of a nice hardbound in your hands, or the smell of a first edition classic, stick around and find some new and exciting ways to transform your old damaged books into the works of art they were meant to be.