Love Guides: They Aren't What You're Thinking

I'm going to leave speculations about the Fifty Shades phenomenon and other alternatives to sexy reading to my fellow blogger and coworker, Natasha (stay tuned), but I can't resist pointing out that even the Globe Corner at Booksmith is getting hot. That's right: our travel section at Booksmith now stocks Love Guides.

No, they're not what they sound like, but these travel guides to India are intimate, elegant, romantic, and maybe even just a little seductive. Okay very seductive. Even if you've never dreamed of traveling to India before, these guides will make you want to book your tickets and go catch a flight.

Fiona Caulfield, creator of Love Travel guidebooks, describes her guides as "hand books for the luxury vagabond." They are that and so much more; buying one of these books is almost like purchasing a souvenir before you go. Each regional guide to India comes in a cloth bag and is enclosed in a beautifully designed cloth cover. Not only are the guides packed full of insider information aimed at giving you an authentic experience of the country, they are also gorgeously laid out with maps and illustrations, which are printed in India on eco-friendly handmade paper.

These guides beg to be browsed, so come on in to the Globe Corner Annex at Brookline Booksmith. To learn more about the India Love Guides, check out the Globe Corner's interview with Fiona Caulfield on the Globe Corner blog, where you can also read about the recent migration of Booksmith booksellers to the Pacfic Northwest.

Sigh No More, Ladies

One of the most enjoyable parts of working the card and gift area of this here Brookline Booksmith is opening up all the boxes of new merchandise we carry in the store. Sure, it is coupled with the time-consuming and sometimes tedious task of putting the little price stickers on each item--but it's also sort of like Christmas every time we get something especially cool. And just two days ago, ladies and gentlemen, we got some especially awesome new merchandise.

We warmly welcome the fabulous bath and beauty products from fantastic company Blithe and Bonny. These hand-crafted and amazingly scented products include goat's milk soap bars, bath salts, dish soaps, bubble bath, candles, body lotions, soaps shaped like bees, soaps shaped like roses... and they all smell AMAZING. With fragrances like Jasmine, Rose, Honey Almond, Lavender, Eucalyptus Mint (!) and more, there's pretty much something for everyone. Also, dish towels.

I'm one of those wimpy people who is sensitive to strong fragrances, but these lovely bath and beauty products, while still quite pleasant, are not overly strong; even after several hours handling boxes of soaps and candles, I hadn't sneezed once. Instead I 'm pretty sure my brain became encased in happy smells that may have made me a bit more giddy at the whole situation than is considered normal...

On top of the glorious scents, Blithe and Bonny uses awesomely innovative, eco-friendly packaging. Dish soaps and bubble baths are packaged in repurposed wine bottles; the dish towels are wrapped in what appears to be cardboard tubes from paper products. And if you hadn't noticed already, each label is made from the page of an old book. How perfect is that?

While admiring all this awesome merchandise, I inspected one of the designs of the lovely flour sack dish towels we carry: a mermaid with a poem from Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." It reads as follows:

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more;
    Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
    To one thing constant never;
        Then sigh not so,
        But let them go,
    And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe
    Into. Hey nonny, nonny.

In the play, the poem goes on:

Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
    Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
    Since summer first was leavy.
        Then sigh not so,
        But let them go,
    And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
    Into. Hey, nonny, nonny.

Now, if you've ever seen this particular Shakespeare play, you know that the plot involves some sullen jerk who decides to mess with everybody's happiness by tricking the lovestruck Claudio into believing his fiancee has been unfaithful. The trick works, and the enraged Claudio abandons the heartbroken (and confused) Hero on the alter, accusing her of lechery. Now, when you consider the plot in relation to this little poem here, something doesn't quite make sense. Basically, the song (as song by some unimportant page at a garden party or something) basically says this: Men are unfaithful jerks, but there's nothing you can do about it, so stop complaining and accept it--replace those sad songs with "hey, nonny nonny" (Shakespeare-tongue for "what the heck").

Wait a second. So men can go around and do whatever they want and women are supposed to just deal? A bit of a double standard, considering what poor Hero went through just because her fiancee suspected that she wasn't being true (without giving her a chance to defend herself, of course). Unfortunately, this is something to which ladies today can still relate. Christina Aguilera has a song that basically says the same thing, although a little less eloquently than old Will Shakespeare. While great strides have, indeed, been made towards women's equality, this is one area that seems all too unchanged since Much Ado About Nothing premiered back in circa 1598. Not to say that this isn't an awesome play (I enjoy it thoroughly), but it is something that does make us ladies sigh.

So, I propose an alternative translation to Shakespeare's poem: Men can be jerks (and should be held accountable when they are), so instead of just accepting it and/or sitting in your room singing "Unbreak My Heart," screw 'em; brush it off and take a nice bubble bath, accompanied by some amazing Blithe and Bonny bath products. Hopefully now, you'll be sighing not in frustration but in sweet, fragrant relaxation.

Saving the World, One Accessory at a Time

I admit it: I like stuff. I like to pretend I'm not a materialistic person, but come on, I spend the majority of my time surrounded by awesome things; it's hard to not want at least some of it. Yet in this day and age, it's important to know more about your stuff than just how cool it is: where it was made, what it was made from, the philosophy of the company producing it… it's a lot to keep track of!

Luckily, Booksmith here is a pretty environmentally aware place. We use biodegradable shopping bags, are highly involved with our community, and are pretty intense about recycling. We also carry many vendors in our gift room that make the world happy. Let me highlight a few of the many vendors we carry that make awesome stuff, and are doing it responsibly.

Bungalow360 is a company that creates high-quality purses, totes, wallets, hats, and even umbrellas--all with adorable patterns. I have owned many a Bungalow bag over the years, and I've been happy with every one of them. They're sturdy, easy to clean, and fit way more stuff than I should be allowed to put in them. The only reason I keep buying more is because they just make cute and cuter designs and I just can't help myself sometimes because omygosh. Seriously, can anyone resist these adorable otters holding hands?!

But Bungalow360 is a responsible company, too. Their website has a page dedicated to their work at the Yucaipa Valley Animal Placement Society, a no-kill animal shelter in California. Bungalow donated a 5 kilowatt solar power system to the shelter, as part of their "Powered By Love" program, which provides solar power to non-profit organizations. On top of this, all of their bags and accessories are vegan, made of 100% natural cotton canvas and printed with water-based inks. So now, every time you buy a Bungalow360 bag, you're helping save kittens with solar power! Awesome!

Now I shall spotlight BlueQ, a company that I just think is awesome. It's clear that the people at BlueQ put a lot of effort into making detailed, fresh, and well-designed products, but they're also pretty darn green. I mean, look at these bags--all made of 95% recycled material. Super-sturdy and super-fun, these things will last you forever while showing your signature style, whether it be vintage collage, funky designs, or adorable little critters.

BlueQ is responsible for many great products besides their bags. Their little boxes of gum make me laugh every time, and it's pretty good stuff to boot. Lip Sh*t is hilariously named, comes in great packaging and offers a variety of unusual but appealing flavors (I'm partial to Coconut Basil and Cucumber Mint, myself). It's also made of 23% beeswax for extra moisturizing power, and a number of other natural ingredients that make for some quality stuff.

I will finish off today's post with Seltzer Goods, a vendor whose products I have fallen in love with during my time here at Booksmith. Their designs are fun, clean, and modern, without being overly hipster. As a design school grad, I appreciate these things. At first, I only knew about Seltzer greeting cards, but--gasp!-- now we carry even more awesome stuff, like tote bags and journals! I think I need the Nerd tote, don't you agree? Although, that mustache is very tempting as well... And I do love cats, and bicycles... Gah! I'm terrible at decisions. Oh, and notice the adorable wooden tags they use. Is that awesome or what?

This is not the limit to our earth-happy gift vendors; nay, we have many, many more. But that is too much to cover in one little blog post (I didn't even start on our jewelry!). So come in sometime, and ask one of us about our products. We'll be happy to tell you all we know about the source, materials, and green-ness of our merchandise.

So now, I can feel a little happier knowing that the stuff I buy from Booksmith will be hurting the earth a little less. That, unfortunately, cannot be said for my wallet.