Archive for December, 2011

Yes, Christmas is over, but Hannukah is still in full swing–and plus, you know there’s a book-lover you’ve forgotten to gift. We at FWR are here for you with bookish gift ideas through the 31st. So now we know why old books smell so good. But maybe you’d like to smell great, too? Demeter, which makes single-note perfumes in unusual scents–think Tomato, Bubble Gum, Apple Blossom, and even Dirt (which I owned; it smells just like wet soil)–offers a variety of products in its “Paperback” scent. Says the website: A dusty old copy of a Barbara Pym novel did it […]

This holiday season, consider offering your writer-friends the gift of time–literally. And it’s available immediately, no waiting in line, for instant (and last-minute) gratification. Offer to take their laundry to the laundromat for them–or pick up their groceries, or bring them a takeout dinner–every weekend for a month, freeing up a precious couple of hours. And then do it. If they have kids, give them coupons for hours of free baby-sitting–and insist they take you up on it. If your friend is a freelancer, instead of buying a gift, “hire” her for an hour or two at her normal rate […]

If you’re looking for gifts today–whether for Christmas or Hannukah–you’re officially down to the wire. May we suggest Clibe, a new app that turns your iPad into a journal? Clibe allows you to type, doodle on photos, draw, annotate, and more to create virtual journals. Stored in the cloud (and therefore synced to your computer), these journals can be kept private, shared with friends, or published to the world. Here’s a screenshot from a cooking journal, but this could work just as well to organize research for your next story or novel: Clibe downloads from the iTunes store (no last-minute […]

We’ve talked about furniture made of books here before, but Big Cozy Books takes things to a whole other level. Designer Erik Olofson creates upholstered furniture pieces that look like giant books. The company offers loveseats, benches, booths, each with a specific title. They’re marketed towards schools and libraries, but if you’re looking to splurge for a young (or not-so-young) reader in your life, wouldn’t these be amazing? They sure look comfy: Visit the Big Cozy Books website to find a dealer near you. And check back here at the FWR blog every day in December for another bookish gift […]

It’s sold under the rather prosaic name Metal Pen, but I prefer to think of it as the Perpetual Pen. Here’s the description: In the Medieval period, artists and scribes often used a metal stylus in order to draw on a specially prepared paper surface. Generally known as Metalpoint, or Silverpoint when the stylus was made of silver, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and Rembrandt all used this technique. […] The pens we sell are a modern version (and do not use silver). The solid metal ‘nib’ consists of a metal alloy, that leaves a mark on most […]