(Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Want to make your own list? Clicking the image will take you to this week’s post. Happy listing!)
Being bookish is about more than obsessing over books and authors and the smell of paper and ink. It’s also about the little “extras,” those nifty things that help us bookworms stay organized, find new and interesting books, and keep at least a little money in our wallets at the end of the month. This week’s list is all about paying tribute to those “extras.”
1. The Listography app – I use Listography to keep track of my TBR list, but the full website is difficult to navigate on my phone. Using the app, I can quickly access all of my lists, remove a book I’m about to purchase, and add books that I see at the store, but can’t buy right away, or want to do some more research about.
2. Bookpedia – Bookpedia is a computer program (for Macs only — sorry, PC users) that allows me to keep track of what books are currently on my shelves. The interface looks a lot like iTunes, but with book covers instead of album covers. The extra cool thing about Bookpedia is that it functions as a mini-lending library; if someone qualifies for my lending policy, I can use Bookpedia to log who borrowed a book, when they borrowed it, and set a return date — and I automatically get a reminder as that date draws near.
3. Goodreads – I know this will end up on almost everyone’s list, and in truth I haven’t used it much in the past. I already keep track of my books in different ways, and didn’t need another platform I’d keep forgetting to update. It wasn’t until I read a post about how one blogger uses Goodreads to see reviews of the books he wants to read that I was clued in to that aspect of it. Goodreads is populated by more bookish people than websites like Amazon and even Barnes and Noble, and we’re definitely vocal about loving or hating a book. I haven’t used Goodreads much yet, but I think I will be in the future.
4. Bookmarks – Ah, the lowly bookmark. I have several beautiful ones, but my favorite bookmarks are some torn-up ones I got at Half-Price Books, as well as one from Massolit Books, an amazing bookstore tucked away in a back street of Krakow, Poland. I’ve also been known to make my own bookmarks out of tissues, squares of toilet paper, pressed flowers, and other books.
5. Bas Bleu – The tagline says it all: “Champion of the odd little book.” My source for cute novelty books, as well as games and puzzles, cute bookish clothes, and more “extras” like reading lights, cute bookmarks, and pretty music. “Bas Bleu,” by the way, is French for “Bluestocking,” an old term for a literary woman.
6. Levenger – “Tools for serious readers.” This website’s got it all: sturdy and beautiful lap desks, high-quality tote bags and briefcases, fountain pens and ink, organizers, bookends, bookmarks, even some books and furniture. It can get kind of pricey ($30 bookweight, anyone?) but the two or three purchases I’ve made have been well worth it.
What are some of the bookish “extras” you can’t live without?
I’m definitely going to check out the Listography app. I love creating / maintaining / ranking my reading list!!! Right now I’m a bit hooked on the magnetic bookmarks, but yours are a lot more creative.
The app is definitely worth giving a try — I think it costs $2.99. Totally worth it. I wouldn’t call my bookmarks “creative”; more like “evidence of my inability to keep track of my actual bookmarks.” :p I’m a pretty frugal person as well, so I just can’t justify buying a fancy/pretty bookmark when I can get free ones just about anywhere.
I really should use bookmarks. I’m terrible for leaving books lying around face down on the page I left off at and creasing the spine! Thanks for stopping by my blog 🙂
Creased spines are a pretty polarizing topic. Are you one of those that hates broken spines on books? I don’t really mind them, unless it happens to a valuable (monetary or sentimental) book. But I know lots of people who would rather stick a needle in their eye than crease a spine.
Levenger’s a good site to visit once I’ve got tons of money, in the meantime, no $30 accessories for me (What on earth are bookweights anyway? – something to google)
I don’t really use any other sites to keep track of my books other than Amazon (especially since I went digital)
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday – Ten Bookish Websites, Organizations, Apps. Etc. post!
Yea, Levenger is definitely a “when I have money that doesn’t need to be used for food and rent” kind of places. But we can dream, right? 🙂
A bookweight is something you use to keep your book open when it’s lying on a flat surface. Say you’re reading outside and it’s windy; setting a bookweight across your book keeps the pages from flipping around. $30 is certainly too much to pay for something you can make your of for far less.
A terrific list. Some I’ve never heard of. But I’m always willing to learn. 🙂
BAS BLEU reminds me of the catalogues I used to receive a few years ago. I wonder if it’s the same company re-organized. Possibly. It looks mighty interesting.
I have a huge collection of BOOKMARKS. Funny you should mention them. I did a post on my collection a couple of weeks ago. I just love them. I even have special bookmarks for different category books. Ha.
That’s one of the great things about TTT: always something new and interesting to discover. 🙂
I’m not sure how long Bas Bleu has been around — I know that my mother gets a catalog from them every month or so, and they’ve always got a great selection of books and bookish things. I think I got a couple of Georgette Heyer’s books from them.
Wow, different bookmarks for different book categories — nerdy! 😀 I love it! I also dog-ear pages (even library ones), which makes many a bookworm cringe. But I like having books that are a little beaten up; it shows they’ve been loved.