I finished Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore last night. I simply couldn’t put it down. And it brought back memories of a non-fiction book I read last year, Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield.
Although it sounds dull, it is very readable, even funny at times. I found out about it in an interview with Neil Gaiman in the New York Times Book Review “By The Book” section in which they interview an author. The ask about reading tastes and habits, favorite/influential books, and what books are in their current reading pile. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts was in Gaiman’s so I got it from the library and was enthralled. I learned a lot and really looked at fonts with much more detail. I even decided to make Didot my default Word font because of the book. It makes a nice non-fiction companion to Mr. Penumbra.
In the back, there are links and references, but my favorite is What type are you?, an interactive website in which an analyst asks you 4 questions then tells you the font that best reflects your personality. He gives you a lot of think time, but it is worth the wait.
booksandbassets 