The other evening, I hit a wall working on an ongoing project so I left the studio for a bit of a walk around the neighbourhood. It’s now fall. Not sure when that happened, but it’s a sign I should probably get out more often.

My walk was meant to be, because I came across a little store selling new and secondhand comics and such* and among the books was YA novel Half World (author Hiromi Goto, illust. Jillian Tamaki). I’ve been looking for this book, with no luck, ever since I saw it on Jillian Tamaki’s blog. I didn’t realise it was set (partly) in Vancouver until I started reading it last night. Her other illustrated book, Skim (author Mariko Tamaki, illust. Jillian Tamaki), is a favourite of mine. She’s caught the postures of her characters so perfectly. Her expressive line and brush work is so lovely it makes me want to give up.

*I can’t remember the shop name, off hand. But it’s around 4th and Bayswater.

I ordered a book last month. I’m impressed with how fast it got here since it was sent ground from India.
It was just the right amount of time for waiting. Not too long that I was going to start worrying about it, and long enough that it arrived like an ‘unexpected present’ from myself.

The cover corners are a little bent after its journey, but otherwise, it’s perfect.

The publisher, Tara Books, is a small independent press located in South India. They publish a small number of very unique books a year. Some, like this one, are hand silk screened and hand bound.

This book is also available on Amazon, but I thought buying direct from the publisher was much more fun.

From The Tara books about page:

Widely regarded as one of India’s finest independent publishing houses, Tara is run by a collective of writers based in Chennai, India. We work with a range of adventurous writers and artists from around the world, as well as create books in house. We’re unafraid of conventional marketing logic – the work we put out is guided by our vision of publishing, balancing the pleasures of a beautiful book with wit and political rigour. Our titles are often unclassifiable, straddling accepted genres. We have pioneered the art of the book made entirely by hand, making artists’ books affordable for the average book lover.

That’s my kind of publishing house.

There’s a little video showing the fascinating silk screening and bookbinding process (sadly low res/YouTube).

I have a bit of a weakness for books, as evidenced by the overflowing bookcases in our house. But I’ll have no problem making room for this one. It is beautiful.