One of My Favorite Uses of Paper. . .

(All photos in this post used with very most kind permission of the publisher, The Little Bookroom)

When I say that I love paper, I do mean paper in many forms! One of very favorite uses of paper is in books! I have been a bibliophile (or book-lover) for all my life! I can blame my Mommy for that! She claims to have read to me from the time she brought me home from the hospital and she placed books in my hands as soon as I could hold them! My first job when I was 17 was in a Mom-and-Pop sort of bookstore (sadly, now long gone) called Lange's Book Store in Casper, Wyoming. My mother had taken me there shopping very often as a child and I grew up telling everyone that I was going to work there when I was old enough!

So, it seems only appropriate that I should share with you some of what I am reading!

I have just finished this little treasure:

"Paris Made By Hand" by Pia Jane Bijkerk is a guidebook loaded with beautiful pictures of shops in Paris where things are made by hand. The shops are listed by the areas of Paris where they are located and the sections are called "wanders" because this is not just a listing of shops, but small tours of parts of the city. The author has also given some very helpful notes in many chapters as to where you might eat or other places you might visit while there. I was very taken by some of the small details about the shops the author mentions. This book would be a great choice to read before a trip to Paris or to take with you in your travel bag for reference while travelling the city. Of course, I love the idea of people making things by hand because it just feeds my fantasy of having a tiny, ancient atelier tucked in some dark, secret passage of Paris where I could make things for The Gossamer Tearoom all day long!

But while we are on the topic of Paris again (and when are we not?), this is another book by the same publisher that I love!:

"Patisseries of Paris" by Jamie Cahill is also a guidebook (and a very extensive one at that) of many of the best patisseries in Paris. Being another great book by The Little Bookroom it is full of beautiful photographs, scrumptious descriptions as well as helpful information such as addresses, closest Metro stops and hours of operation. I loved this book so much, I could barely read it quicky enough! Reading it made me fall in love all over again with my favorite places in Paris, but also started my mental list going of which places will be on our "Don't Miss" list for our next visit. It is an irony that I say I couldn't read it fast enough, because that is hardly the most efficient way of savoring every word. I had already owned a copy for several months when a very dear friend bought me another copy and I read it all over again! Both copies sit on my bookshelf now!

As I have mentioned above, both of these little treasures are published by an excellent publisher called "The Little Bookroom". They are located in New York City and specialize in guidebooks that are very small format, but just packed with wonderful pictures and ideas of amazing places to visit from all over the world. When I wrote to ask permission to use the cover images, Linda Hollick was so very gracious and prompt with her permission (and kind words about The Gossamer Tearoom too!), that it makes writing this post even more of a pleasure!

While you are there, please also look at these books. I also own them and can tell you they are very fun to read while sitting in a lovely park on a summer day while sipping your favorite iced tea!:
-Boutique and Chic Hotels in Paris by Lionel Palliés
-The Impressionists’ Paris and Picasso's Paris, both by Ellen Williams
-Quiet Corners of Paris by Jean-Christophe Napias

One more thing for your reading pleasure...
The very nice Merisi from Merisi's Vienna for Beginners has written this lovely post about cherries! Make yourself happy, dear friends and click here to read it!