Because this blog is half-hiatus at the moment (all books read are for a children’s literature class, and I’m not reviewing them; any other books read for fun are ARCs that will be posted at the appropriate time), I decided to have a post slightly off from my usual to fill in the quiet.
Many of my bookish friends either buy books because they love them, constantly use their library cards because they can’t get enough of them, download ebooks because they don’t have space, or just simply love reading. I have yet to meet another book hoarder in person.
My idea of a book hoarder is someone who collects a specific book or specific kind of book, and can’t seem to stop themselves. For me, that’s just about every appealing edition of Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights. I’m also slowly but surely collecting as many of the Harry Potter books as I can, and I’ve recently jumped into collecting Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.
This week I received Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Days of Blood and Starlight. I’m really looking forward to collecting the final Laini Taylor novel, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, in the UK and US covers (but mostly the UK cover). There’s just something about the UK design teams that appeal to me.
What books do you like to collect and why? Have you noticed a trend in your collections — publisher, height, cover design, color?
6 thoughts on “Book Covers: A Book Hoarder Confession”
Lark
I don’t have an official collection of any kind of book, but I’m drawn to children’s books that were written between 1930-1950. I’ve purchased several of Mildred A. Wirt’s books… mostly because I love the stories, but also because I love the look of them: their hardback covers and old-fashioned illustrations. If I had more money and space, I’d probably collect them all.
Laura
Ooo, what’s your favorite book or artist of that time?
Lark
4-H Filly by Patsy Grey (one of my all-time childhood favs–I was really sad when the library discarded it); I also love the Penny Parker mysteries by Mildred A. Wirt. They’re just fun. And I like revisiting a simpler time for an hour or two, you know?
Laura
Oh gosh, completely understand. I’ll look for those books!
Lark
Have you read The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason? It’s a fairly new YA mystery (not a childhood favorite), but I just finished reading it and I thought it was a lot of fun. The main characters are Sherlock Holmes’ niece and Bram Stoker’s sister. Anyway, if you haven’t read it, you might like it.
Laura
No I haven’t, but it sounds vaguely familiar! Thank you for the recommendation!