Gingko Mini Smart Book Light

Most lighting is grimly upfront about its job: lamp, shade, plug, glow, collect dust. The Gingko Mini Smart Book Light has elected to become a tiny walnut-finish book instead, which is either a delightful bit of domestic theatre or proof that our homes are now negotiating with stationery.

We think that is precisely its appeal. This is a portable, rechargeable light aimed at the person who does not merely want illumination in a small corner, but would prefer that corner to contain an object with a slightly better anecdote than “I got it because it was on offer”. It belongs on the shelf, desk or bedside table of somebody who has already made peace with owning at least one thing chiefly because it amused them.

The selected version is Mini and Walnut, so restraint is part of the arrangement. This is not a grand declaration of interior design; it is a compact decorative interruption to the usual procession of black plastic, charging cables and things one keeps meaning to put away. The wooden finish makes the idea more coherent than a novelty object has any right to be.

There is a little modern-world bookkeeping, naturally. The older Smart Book Light is supplied with a micro-USB charger, and the selected Mini listing also specifies rechargeable micro-USB charging. A cable standard from the era when every drawer contained twelve mystery leads has not vanished merely because the light has excellent shelf manners. Still, we chose this because it makes a strangely specific gift-panic or small-flat problem feel considered rather than cluttered.