Illuminated manuscript
Let’s face it, coffee-table books are overrated. Your guests never see them because you have to clear the table to make room for hors d’oeuvres and really, after a month or so, you’re bored with them. So why not turn that coffee-table book into a permanent fixture? Artecnica, a design company that changes everyday objects into other, stranger everyday objects, presents the Book of Lights, a coffee-table book that folds out and becomes a lamp. Like an old-school pop-up book, designer Takeshi Ishiguro’s book opens to become a fully functional table light. Why would you want a book that becomes a lamp? Good question. Our riposte: Why wouldn’t you? Available at Uncrate.com; $95.

Design of the times
We like to think that the owners of independent bookstores, particularly secondhand shops, preserve a culture: They keep that which we treasure so much from fading into obsolescence. But what of the keeper who preserves that culture which we would welcome dying out? Michael Bell’s new book, Scouts in Bondage (Simon & Schuster), reprints a slew of old books with titles and cover images filled with more double entendres than a Michael Scott PowerPoint presentation. There’s the safari epic Leathers in Mozambique and the oh-so-innocent children’s story, The Day Amanda Came. A few of them even look like they might be good reads. One titled Invisible Dick shows a ghost-pedaled bicycle fleeing from a keystone cop. So you see, it’s an adventure story. Sure, it’s easy to laugh at the linguistic foibles of long-gone eras, and we’re willing to bet that some of these entendres didn’t double over until the original books were out of print. But come on, some are almost too good to believe. And the publishers behind Pamela Pounce: A Tale of Tempestuous Petticoats knew what they were up to. Available at Quimby’s, 1854 W North Ave between Wolcott Ave and Wood St (773-342-0910); $15.

Old news
Every year around this time, the rest of the office comes sniffing around the books editor’s stash, looking for Christmas gifts on the cheap. We’re usually the giving sort, but this year, there’s no chance anyone’s getting ahold of our copy of Chicago Under Glass: Early Photographs from the Chicago Daily News (University Of Chicago Press). The book is worth the asking price based on the mustaches alone, but there are some true relics of Chicago history in here that the photos instantly bring to life. There’s a dynamic two-page spread showing Billy Sunday—a former baseball player turned Presbyterian minister—hollering to the high heavens. Another, spookier shot, shows the dead body of Russian immigrant Lazarus Averbuch seated in a chair, with police captain Michael Evans holding up his head. Averbuch was killed by a police officer under suspicious circumstances in 1908. But our favorite is the photo that accompanies the title page to Chapter Seven: Politicos and Preachers. Its caption says it all: “Alderman wrestling bear.” That’s literal, folks. Available at 57th Street Books, 1301 E 57th St at Kimbark Ave (773-684-1300); $45.