My husband and I had such a great time on Saturday checking out the Guild of Bookworkers 100th Anniversary Exhibition which is on display at a local museum. This traveling exhibition highlights the works of bookbinders and book artists.

I saw books made out of fir wood, goat skin, hand-tooled leather and many other mediums. We saw pop-up books to traditional coptic bindings and even a book made out of aluminum. One book was a traditional panel binding but embroidered with each square inch taking two hours to complete. That’s a lot of patience.

Some books were blank inside but many of the artists’ books were not just beautiful or intriguing objects but carried a message, whether on the importance to go out and vote to making a poem come alive by creating visuals to go with the text. You can go to this link to see all the books.

It was truly a fantastic experience. I came home and ordered the exhibit’s catalog as I dreamed of one day making a book like these. Hmm, I’ve got much, much more to learn.

Oh man, the library sale was nuts. There were so many people and it was hard to get a look at stuff. I did okay but only came away with eight books. That’s not the usual amount I find at a library sale. Hmm, maybe I’ll go back on Sunday when it’s less crowded.

Anyway, here are the books I found:

• Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. Dorothy W. had a great post on this book recently so I was happy to find this copy.
• The Golden Child by Penelope Fitzgerald. I’ve read two of her books before and remember liking them. I hadn’t heard of this one but it sounds good.
• The Collected Stories of Clare Boylan. I know I’ve read about this author somewhere recently.
• The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie. Another Poirot mystery to add to my growing Christie library.
• Emily Dickinson is Dead by Jane Langton. I just couldn’t resist the title, plus it has some charming little sketches.
• In the Springtime of the Year by Susan Hill. I picked this one up without reading it based on the author alone but this book sounds really sad. I don’t think I’ll read this any time soon.
• Maigret and the Flemish Shop by Georges Simenon. Another detective who I’ve heard about but haven’t read yet.
• The Mammoth Book of Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories. I am so ready for the R.I.P. Challenge!

Some good finds for $7. This weekend I will be adding my books to my Bookpedia and finding room for them on the shelves. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!