Weird books

Oedipus in Disneyland? Really? I found these gems at Abe Books's Weird Book Room. Checkit.

Never buy...

There are just some books I would simply never buy. Here's a few examples:


The book that tells you where to shop for clothes. Seriously. The only person who knows your shopping needs is you. Do a bit of research.
Instead, for inspiration: Grace Kelly Style: Fashion for Hollywood's Princess , The Sartorialist

The book with the film poster as cover art, so that film-going shoppers won't have to tax themselves too much trying to identify the book-the-film-was-based-on in the bookstore. You're smarter than that, right?

Instead: The Field Guide: The Spiderwick Chronicles: Book 1, The Lord of the Rings, Inkheart

Aren't they so much prettier?

The book you think you 'have to read' because everybody else has.
Here's a brilliant little-known: Girl in Hyacinth Blue

The cookbook without pictures. (Shudder!)
Here's some cookbooks I've had success with: Frost Bite: Everyday Food Fresh from the Freezer, Real Food: Healthy, Delicious, Easy to Prepare

The book that tells you how to be happy. I've never seen one that worked.
Try instead: Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ, Happiness, Enough: Breaking Free from the World of More

The one about cover art

I was linked by a fellow blogger to this video of the design process for the cover of a Victorian/Steampunk novel. The cover is quite striking, and so is the creativity that goes into it!

It got me thinking about recent cover art. I am a sucker for a good cover. I have been known to buy books simply because the art was beautiful. Here's some covers that have caught my eye in the last year or so.

Of course, there are things I can't show with 2D pictures. You can't see that the cover of Dreaming of Dior is textured, and you can't see that Enchanted Hunters (besides wearing an incredibly detailed dust jacket) looks good naked.

View on fishpond: Fire, Friendship, Family, Love and Laughter (M.I.L.K), Dreaming of Dior, The Lady and the Chocolate, The Arrival, Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood

Sometimes a cover says a lot

Like this one:

The back cover is even more confusing. It caught my eye at work today, and I turned it this way and that several times before my poor brain registered that the text was oriented more than one way.

I haven't read it, but now I want to.

It's called The Collapse of Chaos, and it's by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart.

Apparently it's a science book, about the origins of complexity and simplicity. Science isn't my forte, but a cover like this says 'I have a sense of humour and I'm accessible'. The Terry Pratchett endorsement doesn't hurt either.








Buy on fishpond: The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World