Book Wormery

Book cover design by David Pearson

They say books – along with printed materials in general– are going the way of the dinosaur. While I think the medium has certainly changed, and continues to evolve, I refuse to jump on the "books are headed for extinction" bandwagon. Are more people reading books, magazines and newspapers online or on e-readers? Yes. Is the publishing industry taking a hit? Absolutely. Is that a bad thing across the board? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I love tangible reading materials, but I think there's something seriously wrong – and unsustainable – about an industry whereby authors make less than 10 percent in royalties, while distributors get the rest. Seems a little unfair, if you ask me. So, I'm happy to hear about some authors who bypass the traditional industry, self-publish, and take home closer to 80 percent of their profits. I know this is a controversial, multi-faceted issue. But, as writer Isia Jasiewicz recently pointed out in Newsweek, traditional auction houses (Christie's, Sotheby's) feared collapse when ebay came on the scene, and as it turned out, there was room for both because they serve different markets. I think a similar argument can be applied to book publishing. Plus, without the option to self-publish, we bloggers would have no soapbox on which to stand! ;)

Some books, however, are just not meant for reading on the interwebs. And those, my dear friends, are the books I'd like to share with you today. There will always be book lovers and book collectors, and artists to create books worthy of loving and collection. There are journals, specialty one-off books, art and design books (yummy), and lusciously creative book covers for re-issues of classic literature. Let's take a look….

Design*Sponge recently introduced me to Coralie Bickford-Smith's new collection of deco-inspired metallic covers for six F. Scott Fitzgerald titles, coming out Nov. 4.

Miss Coralie doesn't mess around. Check out some of her other clothbound collections:

ABC3D, by Marion Bataille, is a work of fine art. I can't think of a more fun way to learn the alphabet!

David Pearson has amassed an incredible body of book cover work. Some fall on the more traditional end of the spectrum, while others are positively avant garde and others still are soft and illustrative:

I'm privvy to some of the architectural works:

You can't help but feel civilized and Fiorentini while thumbing through The Civilized Shopper's Guide to Florence, designed by Louise Fili:

Book covers don't have to be made of uber fancy materials to be beautiful. Book City Jackets partners with illustrators to create unique covers out of craft paper:

You know I love an adorable whale.

Those of you who write in journals aren't stuck with the sometimes boring, stamped out options available at your local Barnes and Noble. Look at the beautiful specimens from m-square press, made of natural materials like grass and wood with hand-bound coptic bindings.

How clever is this journal, sketchbook, message board all-in-one from erinzam's etsy shop?

Roughdraftbooks sells fantastic hand-made books in her etsy shop. Get a load of this amazing caterpillar binding:

Now, because it's our blog, I get to unabashedly plug some of the books Oliver designed and bound by hand. Click over to our website to check out more of Oliver's books!

For this one, he actually watercolor painted the pages before binding them and hand-writing the words.