“Last week I attended a reunion of people who used to work at a certain nonprofit literary organization. Some are in publishing now, many are writers, and all are bookish people who buy and read books–past page 18–regularly. Yet I was asked several times, while catching up with folks, what it is that a book interior designer does. ‘So, like, you pick the fonts?’”

“Now on to the publishing history, beginning with this post on January 5, 2006: I have completed Beautiful Evidence, except for the index and a few loose ends. We are currently proofing some difficult images on press, negotiating with printers, planning the order for paper and binding, and working through other production issues. Probably the major threats to breaking the schedule will be in color-correcting images and in importing some paper used in one section of the book… Printing complete on Thursday, May 11. At the bindery, folding is underway. I picked the cloth and the color of the ink stamping on the cloth some time ago. Major issue now is the carton for mailing single books; the total weight of book and carton is just over 3 pounds, which is a substantial break point on shipping prices. We found a lighter shipping carton that works well to protect the book, but of course it is made in Switzerland…. Copies were ready Friday but the bindery was concerned that the glue wasn’t dry and thus the shipped copies might warp. So Tuesday it is for the first copies here. There are certainly some virtues to web publishing, such as glue drying avoidance. But such reflections will vanish when I hold the first book. And I in fact enjoy the physicality of bookmaking…. 10 copies this morning. It’s wonderful, just about everything I hoped it would be when printed.”

“Reviews of photography books and photo book news… Find reviews of photography books, new releases, rare out of print photo books, and monographs by photographers both obscure and famous.” (Thanks MetaFilter Projects!)

So, after running xBlog for nearly seven years, I’ve stumbled across all kinds of online art, projects, books and collections. Some bizarre, some interesting, some just plain ridiculous. Here’s one for you that’s a little bit of all three, and this one’s mine: The Grocery List Collection. I’ve had this project online since about 2000 and now I have a book deal with F+W Publications (the publishers of How Magazine) to transform the site — containing more than 1,000 found grocery lists — into a real, live, hardcover book, tentatively titled “Milk, Eggs, Vodka: The Lost Grocery Lists of America.” Now I need your lists. I’m especially looking for odd/interestings ones but will gladly accept mundane/boring ones. Also, I’d like to try to get one from every state in the U.S. (and a good sample from around the world). So check out my strange little site and send me something! Thanks! –Bill Keaggy, editor of xBlog

“Over 880 images scanned from old books, most with multiple high-resolution versions! They are all public domain (copyright-free, out of copyright) unless otherwise noted, and can be used as historical reference in teaching, royalty-free stock images, scrapbook clip art, or even on your own Web site…”

“Louis Rosenfeld, one of the founding fathers of information architecture, has a new project up his sleeve. Growing restless after co-founding one of the most renowned information architecture firms of all time, co-authoring one of the best-known IA books, helping to start both the Information Architecture Institute and the User Experience Network, and running his own IA consulting practice, Lou is setting his sights on a new endeavor. He‚Äôs using his knowledge of user experience methods to launch a UX publishing house.”

“At present, books considered ‘pop-up’ or movable are popular sources of delight for children and adults alike. However, the types of books today’s audiences associate with such a genre are the result of a somewhat long development and, consequently, form an intriguing niche in the ‘history of the book.’ The first movable books actually predate the print culture. The earliest known examples of such interactive mechanisms are by Ramon Llull (c.1235-1316) of Majorca, a Catalan mystic and poet.” (Thanks Coudal Partners!)

“The jackpot is actually 12 jewels hidden in very public places around the United States. Think diamonds, think rubies, think the rarest, most perfect Kashmir sapphire. All you need to do to get any or all the gems is to decipher clues in the book ‘A Treasure’s Trove.’ The clues lead to a dozen 18-karat gold tokens. Author Michael Stadther, who hid each of the tokens himself, promises that they are all in public places where they can be easily accessed without digging, moving or disturbing objects or structures.”

“The new 13-digit ISBN has been approved and plans are underway to transition to the new number industry-wide, world-wide by January 1, 2007. Find out how the expansion of the ISBN from 10-digits to 13-digits will impact your business and operations…”

“Make or repair books with this easy technique… Bookbinding 101: a primer on making a hardbound book… Construction of new (book) bindings from the UNLV Libraries… Information on various parts of a book and the way they are restored…”

“I still canít get over how cool this is. Jon Udellís little wizard lets you generate a bookmarklet for requesting a library bookóbased on the Amazon page youíre currently viewing. Itís clearly a flawless lifehack. You just need to know your libraryís URL and which system your own city uses (which Jon makes simple by providing preview links to see which style your system seems to follow).”

“Foreword is a community in the service of books and book design, with authors in the US and UK.”

Well, it took long enough, but I finally grabbed the book closest to me, opened to page 23, typed out the fifth sentence and posted it here on xBlog: “It means cultivating a sense of the inadequacy of words ó†imagine, for instance, trying to write what (23A) shows us ó and then enthusing the photographer.” From Pictures On A Page by Harold Evans. Now it’s your turn.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

“Miniature books, most of which are less than three inches tall and some of which are smaller than a penny, have delighted readers for centuries. Popular because they were easily carried or concealed, these historic books range from tiny ‘Thumb Bibles’ to illustrated nursery rhymes. The earliest piece of block printing to which an accurate date can be ascribed — a Japanese wooden block print from about 770 AD — is a miniature scroll and part of the Lilly Library’s collections.”

“How to use everyday ingenuity to solve problems big and small… Ever been in line at the grocery store, sitting in a meeting, refinancing your mortgage, programming your VCR, waiting on hold, choosing an HMO — and thought to yourself: ‘There must be a better way to do this!?’ This book challenges us to stop accepting the status quo and, in the words of Robert F. Kennedy, ‘to dream of things that never were and ask ‘why not?””