Hands Free Book Holder Floor Stand – Cool Tools

Health

Hands Free Book Holder Floor Stand

Float books in front of your line of vision while you sit or recline

When I bought a Levo Book Holder Floor Stand more than fifteen years ago (for I think $169), it was an expensive risky purchase for me. However, it has become the best money I’ve ever spent on furniture, office supplies, or any ergonomic product.

For the thousands of hours I have spent reading, the Book Holder has saved my neck, shoulders, back, arms, and hands from strain, cramping, and aging. It adjusts to exactly the right height; it can hold the book as close to my eyes as I want; it holds books of almost all sizes; and it’s easy to turn pages. I have only needed the two arms to hold the books, not the straps that can be removed, but would hold the book more securely in some positions. It holds books open so I can photograph the screen.

It is very sturdy due to the heavy iron base and solid construction. Unlike a music stand or similar, the floor stand never has to be in front of me, crowding my feet. It can be used from the right or the left or any position around the user. The company now also makes versions especially for tablets. The tablet version doesn’t look like it would hold books, but the slightly redesigned current book holder looks similar to mine, which holds a thin tablet. It can even hold a book or tablet the right distance over your face if you are lying flat in bed – perhaps the ultimate in taking it easy. No other book stand or book holder I have used does any of the above. It looks like the current redesigned version is improved from the one I have, but I haven’t used it. After all these years, my book holder was aging. The very friendly customer service agent at the Levo company never tried to sell me a new one, but helped me do the minor repair inexpensively because it was still “under warranty.” There are very few things I bought that long ago that still work.

-- Maida Tilchen 02/2/17

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All the World a Poem / The Spice Companion

Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

ALL THE WORLD A POEM IS A BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF POETRY

All the World a Poem
by Gilles Tibo, Manon Gauthier (Illustrator)
Pajama Press
2016, 32 pages, 9.0 x 0.4 x 9.0 inches, Hardcover

Cornflower blue moths and butterflies, drawn in crayon on bits of cut paper line up in formation, as if pinned in an antique butterfly collection. Arctic foxes slink through a wintery forest sketched in charcoal. A seagull soars overhead as a child at the beach listens intently to the roar of the ocean within a found shell. A girl dressed in plaid clutches her lovely hat, which nearly takes flight from a breeze as she stands in a field strewn with sheep. In a bed piled high with cheerful stuffed animals, a boy settles in for bedtime. A mockingbird sits amidst huge yellow blooms.

Last fall my family and I traveled to Montreal for the first time. While we were there, after a breakfast of chewy Montreal-style bagels, we visited the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I discovered the children’s book All the World a Poem in the gift shop, in its original French. Since my rudimentary French consists of the phrases, “Ou est la bibliotheque?”, (which I used once while in Montreal) and “Les yeux sans visage”, (which I did not use at all), I waited until I returned to the states to order it in English for my grandchildren.

Consisting of simple poems and charming cut-paper collages, All The World A Poem’s whimsical images are constructed from snippets of yellow lined legal paper, Japanese artwork, chunks of what appears to be wallpaper, and enthusiastically tempera-ed construction paper. Scribbled and doodled hillsides dotted with wildflowers, colored penciled evergreen shrubs, and jagged tropical leaves rendered in a muted color palette of slate grey, mossy green, and maize yellow, evoke a subdued, gentle landscape. Not dissimilar to what one might find hung on an elementary schooler’s refrigerator by magnets, All the World a Poem’s illustrations are accessible and familiar, depicting relatable themes of playtime, bedtime, and the seasons. With its childlike, easily recognizable sketches of flora and fauna, paired with descriptive, emotional poems, All the World a Poem is an effortless read, and a great introduction to the world of poetry.

– SD

BREATHTAKING BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS IN A GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF SPICES

The Spice Companion: A Guide to the World of Spices
by Lior Lev Sercarz
Clarkson Potter
2016, 304 pages, 9.3 x 1.3 x 10.3 inches, Hardcover

I pretty much sprinkle the same thing on every meal. I am admittedly heavy-handed with the cayenne on my own plate and rarely stray from the variety of basils I grow in the summer or bundles of dried rosemary in winter when cooking for my family. I am much more apt to get creative with spices while baking, to savory up my sweets. Lior Lev Sercarz’s The Spice Companion has got me pretty excited to change things up.

This book is an absolute must read for anyone who likes to cook. In it, Lev Sercarz, celebrated culinary expert and master of spices, walks readers through a collection of spices chosen based on the criteria of: 1) can be found anywhere and 2) are essential in certain parts of the world. He opens with a few short essay-like chapters on his own culinary journey, the history of spices, and overviews on procuring, blending, and storing spices, all written in an inviting tone that makes the reader, no matter how novice in the kitchen or rote in their culinary routine, feel excited and encouraged to experiment with spices. They serve as thoroughly informative, enjoyable appetizers to the main course of the collection: the spices.

“Any dried ingredient that elevates food or drink is a spice,” Lev Sercarz writes. His alphabetically organized curation of spices is gorgeously photographed by Thomas Schauer, who also gives us plenty of food-porn shots spanning the lifecycle of spices (from herbs still growing to well-seasoned meals) throughout the text. The spices themselves are shot both whole and deconstructed, each with its own two-page spread. The first page of each is like a mini spice biography or encyclopedia entry, including a botanical illustration, the characteristics, origin, harvest season, and history. Schauer’s photographic spice portraits tumble across the second page, framed by factoids on traditional usage, recommended dish and spice pairings, recipe ideas, and “quick blend” recipe. There is also a great collection of 15 “Classic Spice Blends” recipes at the back of the book.

– Mk Smith Despres

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