Book 'em!

In today's Castles Made of Sand...a new word about a new cologne! Here we go...

We booklovers love the smell of old books. We haunt the book sections of Goodwill and antique stores and yard sales and other people's basements to get our fix.

And one of the reasons people will give as to why they don't like books on the Kindle or some other e-reader is that they don't get the tactile or olfactory sense of holding or sniffing the paper edition.

I didn't think anyone would go so far as to coin a new word  - a neologism - to label the smell of books, but they did!

It comes from a store called Powell's City of Books, out there in Oregon.  They've created a unisex fragrance, named "Powell's by Powell's." It puts the scent of old books in a bottle, an aroma which, when dabbed or splashed on a human, makes him or her smell like an 1843 edition of "A Christmas Carol."

Ready for the new word? Here we go. The perfume has hints of violet, wood and biblichor. "Biblichor," according to the Word Nerd website, "combines the Greek words biblio (book) with ichor (the fluid that flows like blood in the veins of the gods)."

I'm batting .500 here. I knew "biblio," did not know of "ichor," except that it sounds like "Igor," Russian for "George."

If you want to give someone a bottle of this perfume, I think you should get on it soon. They just put it out on the market this Sunday, and already, Powell's has received 1,225 orders.  Emily Brodowicz, spokesperson for Powell's, said the response has been "so overwhelmingly positive" that they have placed a second order with the perfumery.

And get this - it was the COVID shutdown that gave the bookstore the idea. All these months of being closed led to someone figuring that the attar of books might make up for actually holding a book!

" 'Powell's by Powell's' is a wonderful reminder of one of the many things bibliophiles love about independent bookstores like Powell's, especially at a time when local and independent retailers are taking a sustained hit from Amazon and other giant online retailers," store owner Emily Powell says.

"Our customers love the serendipity of discovery while browsing our vast collections, the recommendations of our knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff members, our support for writers and creative expression, and of course, the distinctive scent of new and used books," she went on. "In these strange and stressful times, Powell's by Powell's is the perfect gift to spark positive memories for booklovers everywhere."

The book perfume comes in a one-ounce bottle which is nestled inside a fake book. Happy owners shelve it alongside their collection of Shelley, Keats, and Byron, or Stephenie Meyer, John Grisham, and E.L. James, whose books just smell of money.