Merchandise Spotlight: Books

My favorites are A Common Reader, an elegant little book, and The Akadine Press, its sister publication, offering exclusive printed Common Reader editions. Here’s how Common Reader’s two founders describe what they do:

Incredible as it seems to our still rather unaccustomedly middle-aged selves, the two of us who write A COMMON READER have been friends for more than a quarter-century. Obviously we have a lot in common, as witness the voice we share throughout the catalog, which arises from perhaps the principal shaping force in each of our lives—a passionate enthusiasm for good writing in its many guises. Had we been too much alike, however, we’d no doubt have had it up to here with one another long ago, so it’s probably for the best that we’ve led, and continue to lead, very different lives. One particular advantage to having these, say, “differences in common” is this: Whenever we find ourselves, to our surprise, equally enthralled by a book that at first seemed primarily, if not solely, concerned with some unshared aspect of our respective experience, then we can be pretty sure we’ve made a noteworthy discovery indeed.