Book Porn, part 1.

I had such a wonderful time in Sweden over Easter with Mr. Bibliomouse. As well as finding The English Bookshop, that I wrote about in my last post, we spent 3 days in Stockholm and then caught the overnight train up to Umeå, where he’s working for a year. I got possibly a little bit too excited about spending the night in a sleeper cabin on the train, but I’d wanted to stay in one since I read Murder on the Orient Express about 15 years ago. Luckily there was no need for a tiny, rotund, moustachioed Belgian, and it was a lot of fun (especially trying to have a shower on a moving train…that may have been a tad ambitious!). I also managed to read 6 of the 10 books in the Martin Beck series, by the writing team of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. I really enjoyed them, and will be writing more about the series soon.

Anyway, until then, I want to share some ridiculously pretty books. There seems to have been a trend for publishers to produce special editions of classic works of literature for the last couple of years, and they make gorgeous gifts, as well as being thoroughly collectable.

Penguin have always featured great cover designs, but the Hardcover Classic range are really lovely. As the name suggests, these are hardbacks which are bound in fabric with embossed illustration. In a group on a shelf, the spines look fantastic together (all the more reason to collect lots of them!).  My favourites of the collection are:

Little Women is one of my favourite books, and has been since I was about 11. Whilst I wish that the cover of this edition had featured apples, in recognition of Jo’s favourite reading snack, I love the use of the scissor motif as it encompasses both the endless sewing in the book, and Jo’s drastic haircut. This one will be making it’s way to my bookshelf very soon.

 Homer’s Odyssey is a book I have fond memories, but no copy, of. This edition might change that.

This one is definitely my favourite of the covers. It has pink flamingoes! And croquet balls! It makes me smile whenever I see it, and that’s without taking into consideration the endlessly enjoyable Alice in Wonderland hidden within. My shopping list seems to be getting longer by the minute…

The range costs between £12.99 and £14.99 and are available from the Penguin website. There are more titles being published soon, including Middlemarch and Dracula.

I’ve also recently found the fantastic White’s Fine Editions, which are equally beautiful, albeit in a different way, and they’ll be the focus of Book Porn, part 2, very soon.