Throwback Idea: Book Club

So @bethheinly and I did a little ride yesterday, and of course there was chatting and smoking to go along with it.  She mentioned an event she’s working to organize in October at Little Berlin, a ‘Bring Your Own Table’ book fair at the gallery where zine authors can bring their books, and set-up a table.  The event is a sort-of kick-off to a new ‘Zine Library’ initiative at the collective gallery space – everyone who has a table will be asked to donate a book to the cause.  The members of Little Berlin are hoping to grow their collection and preserve these works as part of their permanent collection.

When she was first talking about the idea of a ‘Book Fair’ I got a very vivid recollection of those flimsy news-print ‘Book Club’ flyers we used to receive back in middle school.  It was really just a way to get kids to buy books, but I remember getting so goddamn jazzed each month when a new flyer came out.  I loved the smell of the printed flyer, and being quite a nerdy youngster, I loved buying books!!

I couldn’t remember the exact way to conjure up an image of this recollection through Google Image Search, but a quick tweet solved that.  @KaraLaFleur reminded me that its the ‘Scholastic Book Club‘ I was grappling to remember.  Sure enough, Scholastic is still putting out these flyers as part of their program, and the aesthetic is just as i’d remembered:

Initially I thought it would be a neet aesthetic to use as a promo for the event, using the book placement style for the participant’s ‘Zines.  Beth didn’t get the reference right at first, and said something that made me think how cool it would be to put-out a ‘Book Club’ flyer in this aesthetic that was an amassing of ‘Recommended Readings’ from all the awesome people in Art + Tech community in Philly.  I’ve been struggling to find good contemporary theory to read, and would love to peruse a collection of what others are reading – a glimpse at the influence behind thoughts floating around in the ether in Philly.  It would be as much a profile of the thought as the thinkers – i’d love to have notables in the scene make recommendations and perhaps even write a small excerpt.  Trends/promos are sure to emerge as the piece comes together.

So I might end-up trying to put together such a thing and set-up my own table at the BYOT Art Fair at Little Berlin…if you have a recommended reading, pleae let me know in the comments!