Weighing in at 26.5 pounds and made obsolete long ago by ever-changing information (not to mention Wikipedia), this book was destined for the landfill until the hubby decided that it should take up new residence in our tiny apartment. Awesome.

Among the tome’s highlights:

• Its snazzy brown corduroy cover;
• New insets on “Aëroplanes”, “Injurious Insects”, and “Wireless Telegraphy”;
• A long-forgotten bookmark with a quote from St. Francis of Assisi;
• Its definition of the word Canadian: “1: pertaining to Canada, a British possession in America north of the United States; 2: a name given to a type of embroidery made with small pieces of fur, of the skins of reptiles and the like, applied to the surface of the stuff, and combined with needlework done with porcupine quills split so fine that they are flexible, and dyed in various colors.”

I love big books and did in fact spend a significant portion of my childhood reading through the World Book Encyclopedia, volume by volume. But this book is essentially one more thing to dust, and let’s be honest, my tolerance for dusting is already mighty low.

So what becomes of this big-ass book? Like my husband, I’m loathe to throw it out and would prefer to either find it the right home or otherwise make use of it. Does it have any historical significance that warrants preserving? Can it be recycled? Craft project?

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.

Duthie Books. Sophia Books. Children’s bookstore Once Upon a Huckleberry Bush. Ardea Books (nee Sitka Books). All of these Vancouver bookstores closed within the past two years. And now the Yaletown location of Book Warehouse will soon be added to this list.

I admit, I was never a big fan of Book Warehouse. Their deep discount model and emphasis on remainders may be wallet-friendly but always seemed out of place in the Yaletown retail scene, but I’m sad to see any bookstore closing.

Last summer, I wrote a rant about some of these bookstores’ closures, and asked the question, “What is required for an independent bookstore or comic shop to not only survive but thrive in Vancouver?” A year later, I’m no closer to an answer and my community now has no bookstore.

In my heart, I believe there’s a place for a small bookstore in Yaletown that curates content based on the interests and needs of its community. That supports new author voices as well as cherished classics. That embraces e-books as an opportunity rather than a threat, and finally figures out a way to sell them in-store as well as online. And that — mostly importantly — can exist as a viable business.

I gave my mom a Kobo e-reader for Christmas. I originally intended to write a loooong blog post documenting the oft-frustrating process of buying the Kobo and getting it set up for Christmas Day — from the ill-informed salespeople at Chapters and the software compatibility issues to the seriously non-intuitive process for borrowing e-books from Vancouver Public Library — but instead I present you an email from mom now that she’s had a couple of weeks to “enjoy” her e-reader.

From January 14, 2011:

Can I be honest with you?
As much as I think it’s great, especially being able to make the print larger, I sorta miss having an actual paper book … maybe the novelty is wearing off already ….
Don’t know that I’d recommend anyone else buying one. You can borrow mine whenever you want to.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to read Kraken by China Mieville as an e-book on my phone. I’m loving the story, but find that I’m considerably less engaged in it when it’s just text on a screen than when I have that old-fashioned book in my hand. It’s so much easier to get distracted. Might have to swing by a bookstore today to get a “real” copy.

Like mother, like daughter, I guess.

There were 250 exhibitors at One of a Kind, but here are my five favourites:

Herro Hachi T-Shirt

Herro Hachi
Their t-shirt and accessory line is all about “making funny fashionable”, and they definitely succeed. I only wish they hadn’t sold out of their “Nobody cares about your status updates” tee…

Laura Bucci Handmade Typewriter Cup Cozie

Laura Bucci Handmade
Vintage-inspired designs meet green chic gift items. Love the typewriter “cup cozie” to replace cardboard beverage sleeves.

Flight Path Belt Buckle

Flight Path Designs
Handmade leather accessories including interchangeable belt buckles, wallets and bags. Especially loved the belt designs, so we picked up this “electric cityscape” buckle for my husband.

Hug and Kiss Designs

Hug and Kiss Designs
They had me at the warning that their products contain language that some people with no sense of humour may find offensive. Their “sassy, sarcastic, slightly rude” greeting cards pair adorable illustrations with charming sayings such as “Stop being a douchebag”.

A Cagey Bee Print

A Cagey Bee
A bit whimsical and just a bit dark, I love these drawings that come as prints and jewellery – especially the Scrabble tile necklaces. I’ve already got two of her prints on my wall, and her new work is amazing too.

Sunday, December 11, is the last day for One of a Kind in Vancouver, so make sure to drop by the new Vancouver Convention Centre to browse for unique gift ideas — or pick up a little something for yourself.

All images are from the respective designer’s websites.

* Well, shopping local all year round would be best but even more so during the holidays – many retail businesses rely on sales in November and December to keep them going for the rest of the year.

So if you live or work in Yaletown and haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet, here are a couple of quick suggestions:

Beauty Mark – like a candy shop for beauty products, but without the calories. Many of the product lines carried here can’t be found elsewhere in Vancouver.

Brooklyn Clothing Co – the rare men’s clothing shop where I don’t have to worry what my husband will pick out; he can’t make a bad choice when all of the jeans and shirts look this good. Plus there’s a nice selection of unique belts and other accessories for the guys on your shopping list.

The Cross Décor & Design – I covet almost everything in this fun shop, and especially love how they display the home furnishings and accessories. You never know what you’ll find, but you’re sure to love it.

Fine Finds – as if their eclectic selection of fashion, accessories and gift items wasn’t good enough, the shop is serving up champagne and chocolate every weekend until Christmas.

Skoah – a gift card for one of their soothing fitskin facials or the more decadent facialicious would be perfect for anyone needing a little pampering, and Skoah’s line of yummy-smelling skin care products make for great stocking stuffers.

And finally, it’s not an independent store, but the One of a Kind craft show (at the Vancouver Convention Centre through December 12, 2010) features the work of some ridiculously talented artists, craftspeople and designers from Vancouver and beyond. Great source of truly unique gifts – no mass-produced products here!

How about you? Are you making it a “shop local” holiday, and if so, where are you shopping?

My friend Katie volunteers with Room to Read, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries. Founded by former Microsoft exec John Wood after his journey through Nepal, Room to Read funds programs to build schools and establish libraries in communities in Asia and Africa.

When Katie asked if she could use my building’s party room to host a “book swap auction” benefitting Room to Read, I gladly agreed. The concept was simple: guests bring books they’ve already read, and bid on “new to them” books. Bids started at $2 per book, and if more than one person was interested in a specific book, a bidding war would commence.

Books ready for swapping at the Room to Read Book Auction

As people arrived, their books were put on display throughout the room. While nibbling on snacks and sipping our wine (shhh, don’t tell my building manager — we didn’t have a liquor license!), we chatted about the books — which big “must reads” were over-rated (Eat Pray Love, I’m looking at you), which good books had been turned into bad movies (The Time Traveler’s Wife) and when to give up on a book that’s just not doing it for you (Netherland, in my case).

It was fascinating to observe people evaluate the book choices in front of them — there was a lot of judging books by their covers, and I couldn’t help but think that anyone involved in publishing or bookselling should go “undercover” at an event such as this every now and then, just to hear unvarnished opinions about what makes a book stand out.

I picked up four books at the auction:

• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
• On Writing, by Stephen King
• The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
• The Smart Cookies’ Guide to Making More Dough, by the Smart Cookies

Hopefully I’ll have managed to read all of them by the next Room to Read Book Auction…

Interested in learning more about Room to Read and seeing how they are making a difference? Visit their website, follow the Vancouver chapter on Twitter, or watch this video:

Read  the press release on VPL’s website.

I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy during my teen sci-fi phase, and am looking forward to re-reading it — all I really remember is the babel fish, a whale falling through the sky, and that the answer is 42. The original 1981 BBC mini-series was great if you can find it, but skip the 2005 remake.

If you feel like discussing the book on Twitter, the hashtag for One Book, One Vancouver is #obov

This free community event draws thousands of book-lovers from across the Lower Mainland to the streets around the Vancouver Public Library.

Activities at Word on the Street include:

• Author readings featuring a wide variety of West Coast writers;
• Marketplace with exhibitors selling books and sharing information about their programs, services and products;
• Magazine Life, featuring local magazines, panel discussions, demonstrations and performances;
• CBC Plaza, where you can meet CBC Radio hosts and the stars of popular TV shows — Being Erica, Heartland – and upcoming shows like Men with Brooms and the new season of Battle of the Blades;
• Family Literacy Tent with literacy education organizations such as the Canucks Family Education Centre;
• Sony Reader Lounge, for a hands-on demo of their e-reader (got to say, I wasn’t impressed last year, but I’m going to give it another try);
• Writing and publishing workshops;
• Kids activities such as storytelling, book making (supplies provided), a festival scavenger hunt, and a giant word search.

Also during Word on the Street, the Vancouver Public Library will reveal the pick for One Book, One Vancouver. Will The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy be victorious? Can’t wait to find out!

Check out The Word on the Street website and blog for the full schedule of events, or follow them on Twitter.

Intrepid Pens has applied for a Pepsi Refresh Grant, and needs your support. In order to receive $25,000 to continue to grow the program, Intrepid Pens must be voted one of the top two ideas for their category, as decided by the Canadian public.

It’s easy to vote: just visit refresheverything.ca and register. Once you’ve registered, you can vote every day. Voting closes October 31, and yes, that means I will be asking you to vote every single day until then. Set a daily reminder in your calendar, and vote away! Tell your friends, tweet it, put a link on Facebook, just get the word out…

Click here to go straight to Intrepid Pens’ Pepsi Refresh page.

Or check out the Intrepid Pens blog for more information on their activities and other ways to provide support (e.g. by donating money, books, event tickets).

1. Starting tweets with @usernames for the wrong reasons. When you start a tweet with someone’s username, it’s usually because you’re directing the message to that person or replying to something they said. But lately I’ve noticed more people sending messages like this: @ThatNewRestaurant makes the best club sandwiches ever!! In this case, the only people that will see this tweet are those people that follow both @ThatNewRestaurant and the person who posted the message — not the sender’s entire audience! Depending on the overlap between their followers, the tweet could be going to only a handful of people — or no one at all. On the other hand, a tweet like this would be seen by all of the sender’s followers, not just the ones already following @ThatNewRestaurant: Wow, @ThatNewRestaurant makes the best club sandwiches ever!! If you want your entire audience to see the tweet, don’t start it with an @.

2. Messing with re-Tweeting conventions. Re-tweeting is one of my favourite things about Twitter, although I’m not a fan of the automatic re-tweet (RT), because I like the commentary that accompanies the RT, the personal touch. I want to know why you’re re-tweeting something: do you agree, or disagree? Did it make you laugh, or make you cry? Do you have something to add? To make this work and allow space to add that commentary, sometimes it’s necessary to edit the original message. But don’t change the meaning of the original message — I’ve had people “re-tweet” me but they altered the message so much that it was nothing I ever would have said — and don’t forget to cite the person you’re re-tweeting.

3. Hashtag overdose. Hashtags are great for including meta-data in a tweet when squeezing in extra details would send you over the character limits. I especially appreciate hashtags for event-based tweeting, e.g. when attendees of a conference all tag their tweets with the same hashtag (like #bookcampvan). But some people take it too far and use a #hashtag on #every #single #keyword. All tweets are searchable anyway, so excessive hashtaggery is unnecessary and annoying. Think of it this way: if you were including the word anyway, it doesn’t need a hashtag.

4. Follow Friday overdose. I know some people are anti-Follow Friday, but I don’t mind the meme when done well, which is to say with a bit of thought and intention. The original purpose of Follow Friday was to highlight fellow Twitter users that you felt were particularly worthy of following; sort of a “best of” recommendation. Somewhere along the way, however, people started using Follow Friday to broadcast out multiple tweets listing what seems like every single account they follow. Twitter isn’t middle school: it’s okay to single some people out for attention, and you don’t have to feel bad for not including everyone. If you’re going to participate in Follow Friday, pick one or two people a week, and explain why you enjoy their tweets. Oh, and don’t re-tweet it when people include you in a Follow Friday message — that’s preaching to the choir, and makes you look lame.

Whew, rant over. If you’re new to Twitter or just looking for a refresher, check out this great (and beautifully designed) primer at Jessica Hische’s blog: Mom, this is how Twitter works.

What are your social media pet peeves? Let me know in the comments.