The one stretch of undistracted time most of us have is when we take vacation. The temptation — my temptation, almost always succumbed to — is to go catatonic, escaping the working world into the oblivion of Ludlum. But when I settle into my next holiday, I’m hoping to resist that urge. I hope to use the rare gift of an empty mind to grapple with a big idea or two — with a chunk of Marx, maybe, since I’ve never read a word he’s actually written, or with that Foucault that’s been gathering dust.

Judging from my experience last winter, once you get over the initial hump and start to dig into a text that’s big and weighty, you get an unmatched mental charge.

We play tennis on vacation, or go for strenuous hikes. We might get just as much pleasure from working out some little-used parts of our brains.

via Getting a mental kick from tackling tough books.

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Getting a mental kick from tackling tough books

Andy Ihnatko discusses the ethics of supporting your local bricks & mortar bookstore. Or not.

Where does that leave my local bookstores? I still drop by to browse. But my old system has stopped working. If I discover a great book at the store and I buy a digital edition for my iPad, it feels a little bit like shoplifting. And yet I know I can’t pay $23 for a physical book that will do nothing but remind me to buy the $9.99 Kindle edition when I get home.

Fortunately, my favorite stores still sell magazines, and cards, and other things that spin in the close orbit of hardcovers and paperbacks. I’ll happily spend $15 in other departments; I feel as though I’m paying the store their “finder’s fee” while still getting items of useful value.

via Darwinist Consumerism: What’s the most ethical way to buy books? – Andy Ihnatkos Celestial Waste of Bandwidth BETA.

[link spotter's fee to gizo]

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Darwinist Consumerism: What’s the most ethical way to buy books?

Beat up paperbacks can easily be turned into custom hardbacks with some scrap cardboard, fabric, a gluestick, and an inkjet printer. Unleash your inner graphic designer with this quick and easy tutorial!

via Turn Old Paperbacks into Custom HardbacksHow To | Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh.

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Turn old paperbacks into custom hardbacks

Infographic: Books vs. eBooks – Stephen’s Lighthouse.

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Infographic: Books vs. eBooks

Reading is sexy t-shirt – Angels have the phone box II.

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Reading is sexy t-shirt

Has endlessly skimming short texts on the internet made us stupider? An increasing number of experts think so – and say its time to slow down . . .

via The art of slow reading | Books | The Guardian.

Unsurprisingly, I found myself skimming this article.

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The art of slow reading

Here’s your chance to proudly display your love of classic literature, or just your love of interesting t-shirt design. I’d love a Hound of the Baskervilles but sadly the t-shirt colour doesn’t work for me. I’ll have to think about one of the other designs. Click on through to Out of Print Clothing to see the rest.

Out of Print celebrates the world’s great stories through fashion. Our shirts feature iconic and often out of print book covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art.

via Out of Print Clothing.

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Out of Print Clothing

the Little White Bat: Reading is fun!.

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Reading is fun!

Take a seat by Darris Hamroun.

[via Book Patrol]

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Take a seat

via xkcd: Book Burning.

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xkcd: Book Burning