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My Book Buddy and Me!

2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

Holy book accessories, Batman!

If you like shopping for office supplies as much as I do (and WHAT is it about book people and office supplies, anyway?), you are going to love this. Meet the Book Buddy!

The Book Buddy is a simple elastic band that fits around the front cover of your book and has a pouch on the front to hold pens, highlighters, glasses, and whatever else you always need but can never find when you’re sitting down to read. (Chex Mix, Goldfish crackers, tea bags, mini-bar sized bottles of wine….) It also has a built-in bookmark ribbon that can be customized to your taste or to match your team colors or, well, whatever.

I’ve discussed my penchant for writing in books many times before, so when I received the offer of a free Book Buddy, I actually read the email (as opposed to, you know, automatically deleting something that looks anything at all like a product review pitch), and then I said YES YES YES!!!!!

I’ve read three hardcover books with my Book Buddy so far, and I am officially in love. I’m used to reading with a pen in my hand and then sitting the pen down distractedly when the phone rings, or the postman comes to the door, or it’s time to open that bottle of wine, and that means that I can NEVER locate a pen when I want one. So, having it attached to the front of my book is perfect, and I love the built-in bookmark because, while I’m not especially picky about it, I do hate to dog-ear pages.

Despite the fact that my affair with the Book Buddy is hot and heavy right now, I do have to mention that it doesn’t seem to work so well with paperback books and galleys, as the thin covers don’t support the band quite as well. If Book Buddy came in multiple sizes, I would happily invest in a separate one to use with paperback books.

That said, I do have a habit of taking giant hardcover books with me when I travel (seriously, I took Matterhorn to New York during BEA and Skippy Dies to Daytona for SIBA), and I think the Book Buddy is well worth the $9.95 cost just for the fact that it will prevent me from digging through my purse for my pen as I read in the airport and on the plane. Speaking of travel, there’s also a travel edition Book Buddy that has a wider band to hold your passport, boarding pass, etc. I haven’t tried it out, but it looks nifty.

The Book Buddy is a no-frills reading accessory that I am happy to have in my life, and while I’m sure many of you are crafty enough to make something similar on your own, I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

And now I’m dying to know: what are the reading accessories you can’t live without?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary Book Buddy to test out and was given the option to blog about it if I chose. I was not paid for this review.

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9 Comments

Comments

9 Responses to “My Book Buddy and Me!”

Jenn's Bookshelves on October 7th, 2010 6:05 am

Hmmm…I’ll definitely have to check this out. It’s a shame it doesn’t work well with galleys, though!

The first book accessory I can’t live without is my flag pen! I’m constantly whipping out flags and marking passages. If only they had a post-it note pen, one that held those bigger post-its. I’d be in heaven then!

Another book accessory I can’t live without is the hardbacker. It turns any paperback into a hardback. Since I read a lot of galleys, and galleys aren’t known to be extremely sturdy, my hardbackers are invaluable. Unfortunately, it appears as though Hardbacker (www.hardbacker.com) is under renovations for the next six months. I should have stocked up earlier!
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Sandy on October 7th, 2010 6:37 am

I have these little magnetic things that I use to mark passages (I know, I know, I won’t mark up my books) that I got from my Secret Santa last Christmas. I love them. Beyond that, I’m pretty low maintenance. Does my pretty purple leather Kindle cover count? This thing looks really cool though. I hope they come up with one that works for paperbacks!
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Erin on October 7th, 2010 9:26 am

Right now I just have cups of pens all over my apartment so that no matter where I’m reading, there’s a pen cup nearby. I also always have several books going at once, so I’d have to keep switching the Book Buddy from book to book. BUT. I would love it for traveling! Onto the Christmas list it goes.

I don’t have a lot of reading accessories. I’m pretty fussy about my pens, even though I don’t actually write in my books. I’m also fussy about my notebooks, too. Give me those, and I’m happy.
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zibilee on October 7th, 2010 11:24 am

Oh, I love this and am going to have to order one for myself! I am always looking for a pen as well, and I think it would be really nice to have that handy little pouch as well. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I am off to check it out!
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Brenda Palmer on October 7th, 2010 1:21 pm

Thank you so much for the great review! I am the creator of the Book-Buddy. It was a real treat for me to see the picture of you using yours. As I told you when I sent the sample, I love to read and was continually losing pens that were clipped to the book jacket. It took me a while to figure out how to make something that worked just the way I wanted it to, but it was well worth the effort. I never read without a Book-Buddy, even when I’m reading a novel and won’t be underlining or highlighting, I hang my glasses on the front and never have to search for my glasses before sitting down to read. I usually have five or six books going all the time and I have one on every book I’m reading. I really enjoy giving Book-Buddies to all my friends and family, especially true lovers of books…they seem to really “get” it!

I wanted to let you know that it is possible to easily use Book-Buddy on paperback books by grabbing the front cover and enough pages to add stability. If you’re reading in the front of the book, put it on the back of the book and if you’re reading in the back of the book, slip it on the front. Since there are three sizes (small, standard and oversize), you can find a size that fits most any kind and size of book. The travel version comes in two sizes, standard and oversize and both versions can be used on textbooks, Bibles and 3-ring binders. If you use it on a leather Bible, it works best to place the Book-Buddy closer to the binding to avoid bending the leather.

My favorite thing about doing this is watching others use Book-Buddies and enjoy them as much as i do and it is especially thrilling for me to have a fellow book lover tell me how much it helps make their book reading experience even more enjoyable.
Rebecca Joines Schinsky on October 7th, 2010 1:22 pm

Thanks for the extra info, Brenda! I’ll have to try out your tips for using it w/ paperbacks.
Lynne on October 7th, 2010 4:35 pm

I’m officially old enough that I need reading glasses now {sucks} and I have to go to three different places in my house to get the book I’m reading, the glasses wherever they might be, and a pen.

Problem solved! Off to buy myself a birthday present.

And yeah, what IS it about office supplies? At Office Max I’m like a kid in a candy store. Kinda weird, really.
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Ti on October 8th, 2010 11:32 am

Neat concept. I like that you can choose your own bookmark fabric.

I can’t live without Post-It flags. The lit class that I am taking requires us to annotate in the book itself and it’s caused me all sorts of angst. The instructor finally agreed to allow me to flag items with Post-it flags instead after she saw me completely disturbed over the requirement.
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Rebecca Joines Schinsky on October 8th, 2010 12:17 pm

This instructor is a woman after my own heart. I can’t imagine surviving English courses without being able to write in books.