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Maynk 講師のコラム

One of My Hobbies: Custom Book Editions

今週のテーマ: 一番力を入れている趣味は何ですか？

2023年4月2日

Reading is arguably the best practice to enhance your language learning curve. Apart from academic books, I started reading literature quite late(in my twenties). By the time the metaphor— don't judge a book by its cover—could leave its mark, the artwork on the covers had already sowed appreciation for the designers.

Unlike my colleagues, my liking developed towards the works on classics and post-modern Sci-Fi/Fantasy books: Dune, His Dark Materials, Hitchhiker's Guide etc,. Once I even owned a Stephen King's The Dark Tower '84 edition.

Making a custom edition of a book is a hobby that I have started in recent years. It all started when a small online bookseller asked me to promote his channel during the holiday season. I came up with the idea of creating thematic editions based on respective stories, filled with subtle easter eggs.

These are the books that I have worked on so far:
  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • SHOE DOG: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE 
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The key feature of editions I made: these all used to be old paperbacks. I recreated and refurbished them into aesthetically pleasing intimate hardcovers with design tweaks. These were made to reflect the nature of the story, characters, genre and other features. For instance, the original that I used for Shoe Dog was not only old but also a pirated copy(just like Nike's we see around us every day)
True story...

I have attached the image of a minimal yet empowered book, The Color Purple. Want to know more about the books that I have read and worked on? The one I am currently reading is called Animal Weapons.
 
I have guided dozens of my friends towards developing a reading habit. Check out my lessons to start your literary journey.

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