#The Bookbinder

[ninja-muse]

Some of you may remember me loving The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams a few years ago. The Bookbinder is its companion novel—same setting, characters in common. It's about a woman who does manual work at Oxford Press but dreams of attending a College, and who gets to have that kind of education and why. It's about the boxes people get put into and the boxes we make for ourselves, about sacrifices and family and women in the First World War. I recommend it just as highly as the last one!

[bshocommons]

"Poetry is how we endure the unendurable. Sometimes it has to be a lie."

Pip Williams, The Bookbinder

[blacknovelist]

a first moment

You came to the Neath knowing you would never truly stay.

At every step, every moment, every dripping red heartbeat. Vengeance clutched in one hand, a finger of the other to the thrumming pulseline of letters meant for the Surface. The Neath liked to change those who descended into her depths— but the least you could do was survive.

Hold together until the last, and resist them, the careless temptations that made this world so dangerous to the world up above. So one day, you could return and know the warmth of the sun, one more time.

But you are not the only one who picks where the story ends. Oh, no, that is not your power, little bookbinder. You find the edges, crowding in perception. It is not your job to change the story, but to know what happens and follow it to the end.

You cannot change who you will be. You cannot change what you are. You knew the moment you slipped down into the dark that you might need to do things you couldn't even imagine. That you might choose to do things you couldn't even imagine.

Don't you think, little bookbinder? Do you? Because for all your quick words and heavy swings...

One day, as the deck quavers and bends. One day you'll find your way back again, a way that isn't on the other side of the Starved Eye your vessel reaches for. Your body tied hastily to the wheel like cover and backplate to keep from falling off and skewing the course, what little space left between you and your target the final pages on a memoir you didn't know you were writing. Princess of the Skies will bear you the final way— and you've not amulets enough to avoid the blood debt that follows the splintering of the deck.

In all things, look to love.

London is a beautiful city from above, isn't it, Bookbinder? Messy. Ugly. Yours.

Open your eyes to a home you never thought you'd see again, the tearful, bloody gaze of your companion— your thief, your best friend, a kindred soul like no other you ever knew you could grasp— cavernous dust yet caked across her cheeks. Under your fingernails. Among thick strands of hair. There is still screaming outside, and you fancy some of it might not even be from fear.

It wouldn't be so bad to let the Surface wait a little longer.

[elliepassmore]

The Bookbinder review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: history, historical fiction, women's stories, WWI

The Dictionary of Lost Words review This is a great companion to Dictionary of Lost Words, though both could be read as a standalone without there being any issues. Tilda features fairly prominently in this book and we do see Gareth and a brief cameo of Esme. I liked getting to see familiar characters, even if Gareth + Esme's story drove home the tragedy in a different way. I especially liked seeing Women's Words and how much it impacted Peggy! This book picks up around the start of WWI and pretty much follow the course of the war, with a couple chapters taking place afterward and depicting the experience of recovery. The Belgian refugees play a big part of Peggy's story, as well as that of her twin sister, Maude. They forge different connections to the newcomers, but each finds their lives transformed by those relationships. The Spanish Flu also comes in and we get to see how it impacts things at the Bindery as well as Peggy and Maude's lives more personally. It was definitely interesting to see Peggy's struggles getting into Oxford. As a woman who did get into Oxford (graduate school, and Pembroke, not Somerville; also I declined admissions, lol), it was strange to read about all the hoops Peggy had to jump through just to be able to secure her spot. Not just one test, but two, with "Ancient bloody Greek" as one of the subjects, is quite a bit just to get in and study English lit. I really liked how Williams made this a commentary on barriers to entry and how Peggy was able to recognize that the entry exams were just another way to prevent non-aristocratic women from being able to reach for the kind of education offered at Oxford. Oxford's difficult admissions process also ties into the suffragette movement. I didn't know that when Britain passed the law to allow women to vote that it only included certain women and only at the age of 30. Tilda is more closely tied to Peggy and Maude due to her romantic relationship with their late mother and so Peggy has much closer view of the suffragette movement than Esme did. Peggy supports suffrage but also sees the injustice of the bill being pushed prior to/during WWI and how it connects to her own struggles to get into Oxford. Peggy also recognizes how unfair the bill is to the women around her in the Bindery and at home who also don't have a higher education and aren't looking to get into Oxford. Peggy is an interesting character to follow. She's worked at Clarendon Press as a bindery girl since she was ~12, though she dreams of being a Gown in Somerville, Oxford's women's college. She also feels a great responsibility for her twin sister, Maude, who is autistic and communicates through a kind of echolalia. When the war breaks out, Peggy feels she needs to do something and so volunteers to help with the Belgian refugees being housed in Oxford. She comes to enjoy her work and what she feels is freedom from watching over Maude. Peggy clearly has a big heart and big dreams, and she's acutely feels the barriers preventing her from reaching her goals. I liked that Williams made it clear that Peggy loved Maude, but that at times she wishes her twin could be more self-sufficient. At the same time, Peggy gets very jealous when someone new comes into Maude's life and begins caring for her in the way Peggy is used to. It's definitely a real thing that happens with sibling pairs where one sibling requires more accommodations and care, and even though I didn't always agree/like Peggy's thoughts about Maude, it did show a realistic way of coping and helped to show both Peggy's and Maude's growth over the course of the book. There were so many people supporting Peggy throughout her journey. Maude is a big supporter, even if Peggy doesn't always recognize it, and Mrs. Stoddard, the head supervisor of the women's section of the Bindery, is another person who greatly champions Peggy. Gwen, a Somerville student Peggy meets volunteering, may be ditzy and doesn't always see her own privilege, but she does introduce Peggy to important Somerillian people and she goes to bat for Peggy and pulls some strings to make it clear to some of the Somerville leaders that Peggy would be a good candidate for both admissions and a scholarship, both of which do open doors for her. I liked how much community was present in this book and how much the women supported each other. Maude may use echolalia to communicate, but she is very observant and good at reading people. She's particularly good at understanding the things people do vs. don't want to talk about and is a comforting influence to one of the Belgian women. Maude also seems to understand just how much Peggy needs her and for the most part is able to accept that role. She's very supportive of Peggy's dreams and I liked seeing them reverse roles when Peggy was studying for the Oxford entrance exams. Instead of Peggy making sure Maude got food and got outside, it was Maude making sure Peggy ate and didn't burn herself out. I enjoyed seeing Maude get the chance to grow into the person she was. Lotte is one of the Belgian refugees and quickly bonds with Maude. Shortly after her arrival she and a few other women begin working at the Bindery and Lotte is paired up with Peggy and Maude, though it's clear from the start she prefers Maude. Lotte's story is a sad one, and while she opens up to Maude pretty easily, it takes her much longer to open up to Peggy, and seemingly only through a 3rd party. She struggles with what happened in Belgium throughout the book and and there are some moments when her PTSD flares. Bastiaan is a Belgian soldier injured during the German invasion. He's one of the soldiers Peggy helps in her volunteer work and the two of them become friends, and then more, during that time. Bastiaan is another person who supports Peggy's dreams and he seems to understand Maude as well. I liked Bastiaan's mannerisms and how gentle he was. Like Lotte, Bastiaan is also dealing with ghosts and struggles with what happened before they were evacuated to England, particularly since he sees himself as someone who should've been able to protect Belgium and its people. I liked Bastiaan and Peggy together. They're able to open up to each other in a way they can't to others, and I liked seeing how they helped each other and how they grew together. Their relationship also shows the struggle and balance that women had to face between education and a career vs. romantic love and a family, particularly if the women were lower class and didn't have family money to fall back on. Peggy loves Bastiaan, but she also wants more out of life. Bastiaan also loves Peggy, but he knows his future isn't in Engand. Thus, they reach something of an impasse. Despite that, their relationship ends the story on a positive and hopeful note (I suspect it's long-distance, though Williams doesn't say explicitly) and I can definitely see them finding a good middle ground where Peggy can have her career and Bastiaan can have his. Tilda, as mentioned, also shows up in this one, though she's more present in letters than in person due to her being in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and deployed to France. It's clear how much Tilda cares for Peggy and Maude, and as the book unfolds it becomes clear that Tilda and the girls' mom were romantically involved and that Tilda played a big role in the girls' lives. It was nice to see them together as a family, and I liked seeing how Tilda was with Peggy and Maude. I also think it was clever to include Tilda's letters at the end of some of the chapters so that we could get an inside view into what things were like in France. Williams does not pack her punches and Tilda's letters make the brutality and tragedy of the war even more clear than Peggy's own experiences volunteering do. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and getting to see things through Peggy's eyes. I think Esme's story packed a more emotional punch than Peggy's, but I still felt deeply for the people in this story and the circumstances that brought them together. The book ends on a happy note and the characters (mostly) seem satisfied with where they've ended up.

[siriuslygrimm]

Dreams Deferred

#BOOKREVIEW - Dreams Deferred - #TheBookbinder #blog

In the midst of the turmoil caused by war, a young woman is presented with an opportunity to pursue knowledge and love in The Bookbinder by Pip Williams. With the men of Britain called away to fight in war in 1914, it’s left to the women to keep the nation running, picking up the jobs those men left behind and carrying on with those duties. Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a boat filled…

[highlordofkrypton]

anyone notice a new trend of really entitled people joining fandom?

I feel like jerks have existed since the beginning of time, but it feels worse lately.

So far this year, I've witnessed:

People offering free unasked criticism to artists because they're not happy with the way their favourites are portrayed, stating that 'they deserve to know what they did wrong so they can improve' while the feedback they offered was 'why does everyone look like they're on ozem***' (idk if i need to tw this word)

Also giving feedback AND REVIEWS to FANFIC as if they're published works (and adding them on GOODREADS TO RATE)

People mass producing binded fanfiction and making THOUSANDS of dollars off work they did not create (they stole the artwork too)

People running incomplete fanfictions through AI because the writer wasn't updating and COMMENTING on the fic telling others to do the same so they can get an ending

And now, in the span of two days:

People trying to argue that if they can't sell binded fanfiction, then you're not allowed to commission fanart from artists either

The same people encouraging people to use AI or steal fanart for their binds

ALSO the same people openly admitting that when they typset fics, they will edit the fanfiction and change entire sentences so that it 'makes more sense to them' -- one person complained the entire fic was rough gramatically and was seeking permission not from the author but OTHER BINDERS to freely edit as they please

I'm trying to be a positive person in the communities I'm in, but GOD I am so tired. Every day I fight a battle deciding if I should just be a worse person, everyone's doing whatever the hell they want anyway.

[worme4ter]

yo dudes so i'm currently making a tma book for my friend!

it's basically the tma wiki but in book form :)

(highly inspired by what pricklypearviking on reddit did just much less cool)

current status: i run out of printer toner and im in pain so decided to share this to pass the time

[bamsara]

If you're stressing out about a part of the writing process for fanfic to the point where it's not fun anymore, just don't do that part

Post that fanfic with 1000 grammar and spelling errors. Make your characters OOC and give it a Mary Sue. It is a hobby you're sharing not a literature assignment you have to turn in by midnight

[cereovo]

DIY notebook/junk journal tutorial for people on a budget

I found myself watching a lot of bookbinding videos recently & had the realization: I could probably do that at home, for free. And I was right. So before an influencer convinces you to drop 50 dollars on a book press and a fancy bonefolder, here's how:

STEP 0: MATERIALS

Cardstock - This can be any slightly thicker paper. I've been using postcards and blank greeting cards, because they're already around the size I want, but you can even use the cardboard from a cereal box if you want something sturdier.

Scissors/Xacto knife - You need at least the scissors, but the Xacto knife makes things a lot easier. If you have an actual paper cutter, use that instead.

Glue - your choice, I've been using modpodge but you can use a glue stick, etc instead.

Sturdy tape - duct tape, electrical tape, masking tape, etc. It needs to hold up to wear and tear; washi/scotch tape will not work.

Binder or Paper clips - binder clips are my preference but large paper clips work in a pinch

Ruler(s) - If you have them, I recommend using two rulers: one metal (if you're cutting paper with an xacto knife), one plastic or wood (this will be your bonefolder).

Pen or pencil

Paper scraps - These will be the pages of your notebook. You want them to be the same size or bigger than your covers. You can use literally anything; I've been using the last blank pages of old planners and notebooks, end pages of old books, and various scraps that would otherwise be thrown away.

Safety pin - Awl substitute

Needle and thread

ADDITIONALLY you should have a) a surface to glue on and b) a surface to cut on. A piece of scrap cardboard works well for both.

--

STEP 1: DECORATING THE COVER

Take the cardstock you want to use for your cover, cut it to size if you need to, and fold it in half, using the side of your wooden/plastic ruler to flatten the crease. If you want to decorate it, take a magazine clipping or paper scrap of your choice and glue it on one side ( shown below). Avoid gluing anything onto the crease.

Flip it over and trim the sides down. Cut off the corners, then glue and fold the sides over. Use the ruler on anything you need to crease.

Flip back over and repeat for the other side! Make sure to leave a gap at the 'spine'.

STEP 2: CREATING A SIGNATURE

A "signature" is a stack of folded papers, aka, your notebook's pages. Take the papers you wish to use, fold each of them in half, and nest them together. I've been using 10 sheets of paper for mine, which will become 40 pages total. It might be harder to fit more than this into a small-sized notebook. Also, I try to arrange the sheets so that the CLEAN EDGES line up at the BOTTOM of the stack, with the rough edges at the top. This way you'll only have to trim 2 sides instead of 3.

Line your cover up with the signature's bottom edge, making sure everything inside is aligned neatly. Then slap on a binder clip and trim off some of the excess material with scissors, if needed.

Use a ruler to mark where the edge of the cover is, then remove the cover to avoid damaging it (but keep the binder clip). Hold the ruler firmly in place slightly to the left of the line you just made. Carefully make repeated, even strokes with your xacto knife along the side of the ruler to cut straight through the layers of paper. Repeat with the top of the signature. A metal ruler is recommended for this step because a sharp xacto knife WILL CUT THROUGH PLASTIC AND WOODEN RULERS. I learned this the hard way, but if you're careful it should be fine. If you have access to an actual paper cutter, skip this step and use that instead!! it's way faster and safer!!

The finished signatures should be the same size as your cover now.

STEP 3: PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Stick your signature into the cover, align everything, then open to the center page. Clip the pages to the cover at the top or bottom, one on each side, in this 'open' position. Make a few marks along the center crease with even spacing.

Awl time. Using your marks as a guide, CAREFULLY push your safety pin through your signature and out through notebook's spine. You might want to use a thumbtack to make things easier on your fingers.

The next step is to sew the sheets together through the holes you made. Unfortunately this is not a sewing tutorial, so if you don't know how to thread a needle you might want to pause here and look that up. I'm using a simple saddle stitch, keeping the knots on the outside. There are many ways to do the actual book binding, including just stapling it, but this is how I do it.

You can remove the binder clips at this point. The only thing left to do is reinforce the spine. Trim the thread and fold your Sturdy Tape of choice over the spine, leaving some excess at both ends. The goal here is mainly to cover up the loose thread. Split the excess along the dotted lines shown below...

...Then stick it down on the insides of the front and back cover.

And you're done!!!!!

Enjoy your cool new handmade notebook!

[stlartsupply]

I made this zine last year to teach Japanese stab binding. It's a technique that every artist should know—with just a few tools, it's so easy to bind your own sketchbook or to make a physical version of your art/writing/etc. Download the PDF version (with bonus photos & tips!)

[bshocommons]

As soon as someone cracks the spine, a book develops a character all its own. What impresses or concerns one reader is never the same as what impresses or concerns all others. So, each book, once read, will fall open at a different place. Each book, once read, I realised, will have told a slightly different story.

Pip Williams, The Bookbinder

[starblightbindery]

"Gritty Kills Tony Stark" by Copulation Matrix.

Bound in April 2023

❤️‍🔥A very short fic about restorative justice. ❤️‍🔥 Cased in orange faux fur with guillotine pendant decoration ❤️‍🔥 The signs held up by the people on the endpapers are the original tags on Ao3, and they are waving banners with the Flyers logo and Ao3 logo on them. ❤️‍🔥 Modified artwork of "La mort de Maximilien de Robespierre" by Giacamo Alprandi c.1799)

[diana-andraste]

Cover designs for Hans Holbein the Younger's Alphabet of Death, bound in a most unusual manner in 1895 by Paul-Romain Raparlier (not for the squeamish).

[bluejayblueskies]

saw a post this morning that got me thinking about bookbinding and the inherently transformative and collaborative nature of fandom, so:

edit: i guess i should have clarified: hand-bound books for PERSONAL use, not for profit or resale! i think that's something obvious to me as a bookbinder but not to writers/artists so i thought i'd clarify