Book Worm

Oh, that wonderful joy that is book shopping! If I was less vigilant about self-control, I would buy way more books than I could afford. I went to the local book store and nearly exploded at what I saw as soon as I walked in the door:

I've known about it for a while, I've heard J.K. Rowling interviewed on NPR, and I've been incredibly excited about it. This was the first time I had ever seen an actual copy of it. I'm sure I worried my fellow book worms when I let out a strangled squeak and jumped up and down. I grabbed myself a copy and sat down and opened it (Side note: the cover is very glossy, even soft, and the pages crackle perfectly. I will never succumb to that abomination known as the e-book). I was even more pleased when I read the other works by J.K. Rowling page:

Yeah. It says IN LATIN. Latin cannot possibly be a dead language when the amazing Rowling herself makes a special category for her books translated in Latin!!!!!!!!! Take that, administrators that killed the Latin program at my school!!!

I am such a sucker for good cover design. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but a beautiful cover is an elegant wrapping for a beautiful story.

I know the picture doesn't convey this well, but this is a hot pink copy of one of the greatest books of all time, Pride and Prejudice. I LOVE this! Especially the quote right under Jane Austen's name, because it sums up everything that makes this such a fantastic read. Even though I own my great aunt's vintage copy and my very own dog-eared copy, I was so close to taking this book home and giving it a prime position on my book shelf. But there were so many tempting books I decided to save my indulgence for something I didn't already own.

This is AMAZING AND PERFECT!!!! I read Tale of Two Cities in Freshman year and sobbed so much when I finished it, my mom knew I'd finished it from the wails she could hear from another room. The choice of knitting for the cover is spot on. Knitting is a major thing in this epic work, because the French rebel women knit as they watch the Guillotine slicing its way through the reign of terror. Especially the sinister Madam Defarge, who viciously seeks to destroy the life of one of the protagonists. She's always sitting, watching and scheming, all while her needles click and clack.

I have quite a few dream jobs. One of them is naming nail polish, because I love that they're all named something like "Blue Me Away" or "Green With Envy" or "Wrapped in Rubies." Designing book covers is another one. You only get one chance to seduce a reader into looking at your book, and good cover art is that one chance. I cringe when I see some of my favorite books in entirely inappropriate covers, like they're wearing sweatpants to a funeral. And these two books are perfect examples of how a book cover is the main medium for visually telling the story of the book, and interest readers in diving into its pages.

I'd need some serious scuba gear with all my reading if my metaphor/imagery was true. But it would be fabulous scuba gear, maybe hot pink with unicorns or kittens on it, or something.