Booklovers and their Tchotchkes

Folks love their tchotckes. We display them in curio cabinets, on shelves in our living rooms and studies, even on the dashboards of our cars. Booklovers are no exception. While I’m no fan of visual clutter in my living or workingspaces, I have a few prized booklover tchotchkes, all presents from fellow booklovers. Here are three of my favorites. First, a book fan that lets you read the tale of Icarus as you fan your face, a new gift from a book club pal. Then there’s this beautiful palm-size, painted rock paperweight given to me by a managing editor at Harcourt 23 years ago. Still have it … and still USE it. And finally, a special yellow-and-black fella given to me by book marketing pals who spotted it at a publishing industry show: A doll version of the character on the front of all For Dummies books, presented to me in celebration of my first craft book Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies. Since Wiley publishes that line of books, the doll’s name is, of course, Wiley. Bonus: He’s just the right size to fit on the ledge of my bookshelf, in front of a row of WYAFFDs. Perfect