My new favorite recycled book book



Eco Books by Terry TaylorI just discovered Eco Books by Terry Taylor, a guide to creating handmade books out of all kinds of would-be waste. I have a few other similar books in my library, but this is my new favorite.




What makes this guide especially useful? It focuses on 40 different projects, books you’d actually want to make, designed by book artists. Some ideas I’ve seen before, but some are brand-new, including a “Coffee Codex” (made from used coffee filters), small notebooks with credit-card covers, and an accordion book with beer cans on the front and back.

Author Taylor gives easy-to-follow instructions for each project, complete with visuals. He features several different binding techniques, each illustrated in the book's appendix. To break up the project descriptions, Taylor includes a list of recycle centers, an expose of paper recycling, and profiles of other book recyclers. The appendix includes templates as well.

This is one book I wouldn't recycle -- I'd keep it intact, to get ideas and help with techniques.