All the books we produce at Bookmobile get the same care, attention, quality checks, and schedule. As well as the books we store, sell, and distribute at Itasca Books! As book lovers and print enthusiasts, we all browse the books we’re printing and/or distributing and end up with favorites—whether due to how the book is produced (nice use of a foil stamp), design, subject matter, writer, or even the title. A few recent favorites, and why, follow:
Know My Heart, by Rosemary Ollison, Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts
Favorite of Lindsay Lake, Designer, Offset Print Buyer, and Production Coordinator:
The Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts presented Rosemary Ollison’s first solo museum exhibition this year, and it was a delight to design the accompanying catalog, Rosemary Ollison: Know My Heart! Ollison’s textile artwork is a cornucopia of texture, incorporating denim, leather, beads, buttons, repurposed fabric, stitching, paint, and more. The textures and creativity come alive on the catalog’s pages alongside her original poems. An inspiring and powerful collection! Also printed by Bookmobile, the cover uses our new gold gloss digital foil which helps the title pop and adds another texture layer to Ollison’s vibrant and intricate work.
Design, typesetting, and printing by Bookmobile.
Buy from the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts here.
Oscar Wilde on Dress, by John Cooper, Universal Exports of North America
Favorite of Gretchen Franke, Customer Service Rep for Printing:
The book had a complex production process which consisted of back and forth with our paper vendor to find a suitable text paper for the interior pages in just the right color and weight. It also included printed fly sheets and publisher provided letterpress covers with curvy die-cuts which proved difficult for our binders and each cover had to be individually fed through the machine. Once bound, one by one each book was trimmed down to its final size and then carefully shrink-wrapped. Even with a few minor hiccups in production and changes along the way, we managed a challenging project and difficult print job which resulted in a beautiful printed and bound book. Plus it’s a book about clothing as a personal expression of art which really resonates and suits my taste!
Printed at Bookmobile!
Order direct from the publisher here.
Field Notes, by E.G. Cunningham, River River Books
Favorite of Annie Klessig, Metadata Coordinator at Itasca Books:
I love that River River Books’ founding was inspired by the idea that you cannot step in the same river twice. Field Notes is a beautiful volume of poetry interspersed with little black and white images of fields and sky.
Printed at Bookmobile and distributed by Itasca Books.
Available for purchase on Itasca Books.
Algarabía, by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Graywolf Press
Favorite of Rachel Holscher, Director of Design & Digital Publisher Services:
Algarabía follows the “journey of Cenex, a trans being who retrospectively narrates his life while navigating stories told on his behalf.” (Full description can be found here.) First and foremost, I am grateful to have been a part of this important and relevant project. From an interior design and layout perspective, a bilingual flipbook is enjoyable, interesting, and challenging to work with.
Interior design and production management by Bookmobile.
Available for purchase on Bookshop.
Pilgrims, by Devin Kelly, Great Place Books
Favorite of Hans Weyandt, Manager of Distribution at Itasca Books:
Devin Kelly’s Pilgrims is a debut novel that I enjoyed immensely while reading it and have continued to think about since finishing. Yes, it is a story about brothers (familial) that features running and monks. But it’s not really about running and monks. It has some mystery to it and elegant writing that is never precious or simply trying to be clever.
Printed at Bookmobile and distributed by Itasca Books.
Available for purchase on Itasca Books.
Freedom Time: Dancing Through Prison Walls, Sming Sming Books
Favorite of Sean Knickerbocker, Lean Coordinator:
This is a collection of poetry and short stories told through descriptions of moving bodies. The writing, photography and art flow beautifully together in this digest size black and white paperback. The book has a simple but elegant design that features silver digital foil on the cover, the black and white photographs throughout the interior feature a wide range of tonal value, contrast, and texture. It’s a pleasure to print cool books like this on a regular basis!
Printed at Bookmobile, with our new feature—digital gloss silver foil!
Buy direct from the publisher here. Proceeds from this book go to support Dancing Through Prison Walls’s Freedom Fund, which supports members of our community coming out of prison.
NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, No Peak Hours
Favorite of Nicole Baxter, Director of Sales and Marketing:
To me this is a perfect example of one of the reasons I love my job—I never know what a book is going to be. When quoting, the artist asked me printing reports and said the title was NTSB, so I was pretty curious about the content. And the files came in and it’s an accident report for the United Airlines Flight 232 crash in 1989. The book is the physical packaging for a music release, a conceptual piece about this specific crash. The book functions like a CD case. And this accident has a incredible backstory too, from Wikipedia:
Despite the fatalities, the accident is considered a good example of successful crew resource management, still a relatively new concept at the time. Contributing to the outcome was the crew’s decision to recruit the assistance of a company check pilot, on board as a passenger, to assist controlling the aircraft and troubleshooting of the problem the crew was facing. A majority of those aboard survived; experienced test pilots in simulators were unable to reproduce a survivable landing. It has been termed “The Impossible Landing” as it is considered one of the most impressive landings performed in the history of aviation.
Printed at Bookmobile!
More on BandCamp here.
Hotel Almighty, by Sarah J. Sloat, Sarabande Books
Favorite of Aaron King, Administrative Assistant at Itasca Books:
Hotel Almighty by Sarah J. Sloat, published by Sarabande Books, is a book of erasure poetry made from the pages of Stephen King’s Misery. The unused words aren’t just blacked out, though—they’re collaged over and embroidered through in bold, bright colors. Each page isn’t just a poem; it’s also a dense little work of art.
Printed at Bookmobile!
Buy direct from the publisher here.
Wick and Arrow, by Mary Shaffer
Favorite of Dieter Slezak, Director of Production:
The reason I chose this book is the complex and detailed foil work on the front, back, spine, and French flaps. It beautifully showcases our new digital foil capabilities, which could not have been accomplished with traditional foil stamping.
Printed at Bookmobile!
Buy directly from the author here.