Behind 33 Reads, aka the "Book Book." March 04 2026

In maybe the most obvious news you will read today, I love books. Always have.

I took home stacks of books from the library when I was a kid. Did you know there is a maximum number of books you can check out? I raced through piles of Homer Price, Hardy Boys, Hatchet, Beverly Cleary, and my early favorites, The Boxcar Children. As I grew older, I traveled through Tolkien, and was soon on to Vonnegut, John Irving, and the sci-fi of Arthur C. Clarke. In my twenties, I made an unconscious switch to non-fiction, with Harry Potter thrown in for seasoning. Lately, I've rekindled my love of fiction (Have you read The Midnight Library?! What are you waiting for?).

So yes, I love books.

33 Reads is my second book* that isn't about food, but it is about the delicious experience of reading a book. Food for thought, if you will.

Hey, it's my company, I can do what I like.

Book journal 33 Reads in a red combed marble cover

As a designer, books tickle a different part of my brain. They are marvels of design, made in mass quantities at shockingly low prices relative to their value. $12 for a paperback book that will provide a dozen hours of entertainment? Not even Das Boot can compete at that dollars to depth level.

In their earlier days, however, books were precious beyond belief. Before printing, they were painstakingly copied, one book at a time, by monks under candlelight. Pages were hand-painted, -gilded, -embossed and -stitched. It's that era that the design of 33 Reads celebrates.

Endpapers that connected the books cover to its contents (pages) were often made of special papers, enhanced by unique and magical marble textures as in this video:

I had thought marbling was somewhat of a dying art until I found Jason Patrician hiding under my nose right here in Portland. His company, The Fish Bindery, specializes in rare book repair and restoration, as well as custom publishing projects. As part of his amazing bookbinding work, Jason makes his own endpapers, and he was kind enough to make a special set for 33 Reads. He even let me try a few times ... let's just say Jason makes it look easy and leave it that!

Jason Patrician Studio
Once Jason had done his thing, I dropped the papers with my friend and longtime photo collaborator Steve Temple, who was able to bring these works of analog art into the digital realm so I could use them in the notebook design process. It may not be immediately obvious, but it takes a lot of work to take high-quality, evenly-lit, un-distorted images of really big pieces of paper covered in all kinds of ink!

Steve Temple Photos of Marbled Paper

Once the paper design was on the computer, I could lay out the cover. I decided to use gold metallic ink as an additional color on both the red and green color ways ... Jason made so many great designs, it was hard to choose just two! Only my bank account kept me from doing six different cover designs. But there's always the next batch ...

Many high-end books of yore included at least some foil stamping, either on the spine, or the front cover. It was a relatively easy (and attractive) means of adding text to something without committing to a full print run. So of course, I had to add some foil stamping to the books, too (thanks for the plate, Jimmy!).

 

Was all that work worth it? I guess you'll have to be the judge of that, but the collaborations along the way are energizing to me. Working on my own most of the time, it's fun to get out of the house and work with my friends!

* 33 Houses is the first.