In praise of good copy

The Christmas season catalogs are inundating my library table in the living room. I cull the ones I'm definitely not interested in when I pull the stack from the mailbox. The rest I leave in a pile on my side the table (it's easier that way: his stack, my stack) and once a week go through them, rarely pulling one I find worth another look and tossing the rest. But this time of year, I have to go through them at least every other night or my side the table (and it's an old, delicate-legged table) will collapse.

At some point in time, I found myself on the mailing list of Bas Bleu, a specialty catalog for, according to their website, "The odd little book."

Amen.

I was unfamiliar with nearly all of their "odd little books", but by the end of my catalog search, I wanted to own them all! Their reviews are some of the best copy I've ever read. Each review is identified by reviewer's initials, so you could indeed follow a favorite through the catalog. What a gift to be able to write that way!

The catalog also features gifts and items of interest to readers, but it's the books that shine. Take a look and be prepared to spend an hour.