bookishness

On the other side of that “Mark Twain” quote, Island Books’ blue-carpeted interior conveys immediate bookishness.

But these summer releases also share the paradoxical quality of being light on what you might call bookishness; they offer simple pleasures, minimal conflict and page after page of low-key charm.

But she discovered that “general bookishness” was the only real prerequisite; anyone nerdy, curious and thrifty enough could get into it.

Maybe that’s a strange thing to say about an artist with such a recognizable visual aesthetic, but Anderson’s meticulous pictures are themselves evidence of his bookishness.

Moreover, bookishness strives to preserve what Pressman calls a “memorial function,” as “certain cherished associations about books are being challenged in our new media age.”