Nick Basbanes at Ken Sanders!

I joined a few dozen lucky book lovers last night at Ken Sanders Rare Books near downtown Salt Lake City to meet and hear a lecture by "bibliophiliac" and well-known author of books on books, Nicholas Basbanes.

He was in town to talk about his newest book, ON PAPER: The Everything of Its Two-thousand Year History.

Nick said himself that he considered this his "best" book so far. Personally, I would put it on even par with his first book, A Gentle Madness, but his 8-year journey of discovery all over the world to research this book and the final results ARE a real tour de force, so he just may be right that it is his best.

Buy it, read it. If you care about paper AT ALL, you will love it.

Anyway, I was honored to meet Nick at Melissa Sanders' lovely shop, Red Queen Book Arts (just around the corner from her dad Ken's store), a few minutes before he was scheduled to begin speaking at Ken Sanders' shop. Nick was gracious to chat a bit and sign my personal copy of On Paper.

Later he gave a spirited, informative and delightful lecture with excellent slides to a rapt audience at Ken's.

Above is a blurry shot I took of the man himself tirelessly signing stacks of books for stacks of people afterward. Well played, sir!

Urban Vintage

Just want to give a shout-out to my buddy Josh at Urban Vintage in Salt Lake City. He has a keen eye for pieces that will ROCK YOUR WORLD! A real breath of fresh air in the vintage scene here in my opinion (and I've already spent way too much cash there...).

The first time I walked in I thought I was on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in LA. An amazing collection of collectibles and the selection turns over constantly so there's always something new.

Urban Vintage is at 221 East 300 South (Broadway) and they're open from 11 am – 6 pm, Monday – Saturday. While you're in the Broadway zone, be sure to check out Ken Sanders Rare Books, my favorite local used and rare bookstore and The Green Ant, the best mid-century modern furniture in town.

And don't forget to drop in to Melissa Sanders' new shop, Red Queen Book Arts, while you're in the area. It's just around the corner from Ken's and a few doors west of The Green Ant on the north side of Broadway. Good, good stuff!