Moving! And selling some books...

I'm moving... again. This time, only two blocks up the street. But I'm still doing a full spring cleaning purge of my possessions. Before taking them over to a used bookstore or donation box, I figured I'd offer them up here first.

... let's all take a minute to notice that apparently I never buy books with colorful jackets.

Okay so. All of these are in really great, if not new, condition. With the exception of the Mississippi Sissy jacket having a rough time on the spine of the jacket. Not a huge selection here but I figured I'd see if anyone was interested. I've posted them on Amazon for easy selling. You can email me at alaina.buzas@gmail.com if you have any questions!

For the record, Mostly True is really, really wonderful.

Happy summer reading, everyone!

p.s. If anyone is interested in purchasing Seasons 1-5 of Mad Men on BluRay, I might just be interested in selling them. They're brand new and unopened. COOL.

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I can't believe I'm about to do this insane drive... again

Let's talk about how beautiful THIS version of Elements of Style is

how has reading changed you?

Adam Begley's Updike Biography

I think there are very few times I would willingly carry around a 500 page book in my purse for a full month. I'd rather keep a novella or small paperback with me at all times. But, for the past month or so, Adam Begley's Updike has gone almost everywhere with me.

We've enjoyed breakfast and a few Happy Hours together.

And I can't wait to snag a hardbound copy of this to add to my collection of John Updike books. It is that good that even though I have this lovely review copy, I will purchase one for myself.

This is truly one of my favorite biographies. Of course it helps to be interested in the subject, but I loved the way Begley intertwined Updike's personal life story with the characters in his work. Some of these connections, I knew before reading the book, but the ones I was just discovering were so exciting I found myself remarking out loud. Of course, they were exciting for me, but if you aren't a fan of Updike's work, you probably would have been able to contain yourself like a normal human.

Begley's writing in this was great. And although the writing itself never felt slow or dragging, it was the perfect biography to work through at a slower pace myself.

And I'm so happy they stuck with the proof cover, designed by Leah Carlson-Stanisic on this one. Such a great black image of Updike.

Also, this book is cat approved.

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an Etsy treasury based on Updike's Rabbit, Run

one of my favorite passages by Updike

another nice cover by Leah Carlson-Stanisic

p.s. I'll be doing an interview with Risa Rodil, so study up! 

Drinkable Book from Water is Life

Four years ago, I traveled to Kenya to work with The Samburu Project on their water initiatives in Wamba. I've stayed connected to the organization, which has since drilled 63 wells in the region, providing water to over 60,000 people. It has been incredible to see just how amazing the impact of clean, accessible water is to these families, especially the women.

Working with TSP has truly opened my eyes to water issues internationally. Another organization that has caught my eye is Water is Life. One of their latest projects, The Drinkable Book, really has me excited about both the work happening in the water world and the attention being brought to these issues.

The Drinkable Book is a manual that is not only an educational piece filled with safe water tips, it serves as a tool to help provide safe water. Seems a bit magical, doesn't it?

The senior designer on the project, Brian Gartside, shared a detailed look into how the book works on his portfolio.

You can also watch the video below from Water is Life that explains more about the book:

(images via Brian Gartside; story via Core77)

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a book designed to stop violence

I've been thinking about this book a lot lately

a bit of brilliance from one year ago

Visual Literary Inspiration from Risa Rodil

I love the weekly column Alliteration Inspiration from designworklife. First, alliteration is amazing. Let's use it all of the times. And, this column really is filled with inspirational pieces.

This quote, illustrated by Risa Rodil caught my eye for some pretty obvious reasons:

This really just makes me want to cozy up in the library with a book. She's created a series of illustrated quote posters for Harper Teen as well:

And of course, I can't not mention her Harry Potter pattern, which is available on a bunch of Society6 goodies:

Great work by Risa Rodil. You can see more of Risa's work on her Behance portfolio.

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a Harper title I'll be posting a review of soon

books vs movies: Harry Potter

another lovely quote about libraries

true story. meow!