Introducing SHARP Features

The book is so much more than that thing with pages sitting on your shelf, or the file on your e-reader. Books are concepts, symbols, the subjects of viral social media posts, set pieces in popular culture, and more. As book historians, we are used to engaging with these objects and ideas in a relatively formal way, via fairly prescriptive formats, such as articles and conference papers. But where do you go if you want to talk about how an anime interprets the development of the codex format and moveable type printing? Or if you want a quick overview of what’s going on on #BookTok? Or if you want speculation on the reading room practices of Terry Pratchett’s Unseen University? Welcome to SHARP News Features, the home of book history writing, scholarship, and reflections that are a little bit outside the norm.