The Importance of Cover

I kind of hate the phrase 'never judge a book by it's cover.'  Yes, it applies greatly to real life, but not to books.  I cannot help but base what I read on the cover art.  A boring cover may mean a boring book, and there is just not enough time in this world to go around reading boring books.

I have found that there are certain things that appeal to me in a book cover.  For instance: the color pink (I discovered this when I passed by a Valentine's book display that was made up of pink books and realized I had read almost of them), realist pictures, and swirls.  Quite likely there are more things that appeal to me, but these are what I am very aware of.

I also enjoy when I find a cover that uses the same image as another (notice here, here, and here), but I have made it a point to not actively seek these out but to instead be surprised and delighted when I come across them.

 I first came across this series when I was about 7.  My mom bought me the first 20 in the Little Sister series (yay yard sales!  And yay 7-year-old persistence!).  I quickly made my way through those and the library's entire collection.  So I started on The Baby-Sitters Club series.  To this day, there isn't a book that fills me with quite the same feeling.  I love these books dearly and have made it my personal goal to own every book associated with Ann M. Martin.  I remember the first time I came across the updated cover for Kristy's Great Idea.  I was absolutely delighted with the detail it entailed (and especially with the Nancy Drew book).  I am certain that had I not already been so attached to this series, this cover would have made me give it a shot.  I also enjoyed that the new covers included pictures of which girls were in the books.  Since there are so many in the series, it made it easier to remember continuity when I didn't read them in order.  I like the newly updated covers too.  Though they don't catch my eye the way the old ones do (and I really do miss the BSC logo), I feel that they appeal to girls in today's generation (boy, saying that makes me feel old).- especially more that the picture of four girls in 80's apparel.

I stumbled across Cate Tiernan's Sweep series while browsing the YA section at my library.  I was impatiently waiting the release of the next installment in the  Harry Potter series and didn't quite know what it was I wanted to read.  I think these caught my eye because they had pink on the spine (again, I have an odd obsession with books that have pink covers).  Frankly, I find the original cover a bit boring, but I loved the books (I know, I know, don't judge a book by it's cover).  However, I LOVE the new covers (and am glad that they keep an image from the original).  This is a case of my liking swirls.  It is rare that I am tempted to get a new copy of a book I already ow, but these covers almost make me want to.

So here is an example of a book I did buy a new copy of after I already owned it (okay, I had to get a new copy of The Princess Diaries because I pretty much wore my paperback copy out do to re-reading).  This book series fits the bill of covers that get my attention because they are pink.  My goodness are they pink.  I read the book after falling in love with the Disney movie but am fairly certain I would have picked them up regardless- again, they are pink! 

Lastly, here is the series that I desperately want a new copy of.  I LOOOOOOVE these covers!  I own the amazon.com issued covers that are pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as the St. Martin's covers.  I read the first book after my boyfriend read an article about Hocking's self-publishing success.  I found her story interesting and thought that I would give her books a try, so far so good, I love what I have read.  Now everytime I pass one of the Trylle novels on display, I have to fight the urge to purchase something I already own.  They are SO pretty!


So that is my rambling for the day.  Overall, it's not neccesarily covers that get my attention when wanting something to read, but I have learned what I find attractive.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

“I Can't Tell You” by Hillary Frank

Could you function without speaking? Would you choose such a lifestyle? Jake, the main character in Hillary Frank's I Can't Tell You gives up speaking after an argument with his best friend and roommate. During the argument, Jake says things he regrets and decides it would be better if he took the time to choose his words, before using them. So he begins writing notes instead of speaking. The entire book is made up of these notes, found in notebooks, email, and upside down calculators.

When reading this, I can so easily put myself into Jake's shoes. It is obvious from the very beginning that Jake is in love with his friend Xandra, but she doesn't appear to return the feelings. They spend time together and could pass for a “couple” until Jake dares Xandra to prank call a number listed in the phone book as 'Man, Bat'. Xandra begins talking to the guy on the other end, and Jake is left to fill hours without his best friend.

This is not just a boy likes girl, boy loses girl type of story. We also get insight into Jake's family life and meet other friends in his dorm (these friends are very intrigued with the note writing and try to use it to their advantage to meet girls). In addition, it is sometimes up to the reader to figure out what is happening; if Jake is writing notes to someone who responds verbally, those responses are not recorded and it's up to the reader to figure out just what's happening in the situation.

I Can't Tell You in an unconventional read, but one I highly recommend to teens.  

In Honor of "One Day" with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, Based on the Book by David Nicholls

One Day

So I saw the movie based on David Nicholls' book last night with the crew of The Void Zone Podcast (will post a link to the review soon!) and really enjoyed it. I plan on reading the book as soon as a copy is available at my library again (I'm second in line to check-it out, so hopefully soon) and will attempt to do a movie/book comparison review. However, in the mean time, I highly recommend the movie!

In honor of One Day, here are some Anne Hathaway movie recommendations (and of course, these movies are based on books).

The Princess Diaries

Even though this movie is very loosely based on Meg Cabot's AMAZING series, I still enjoyed the movie. And can you blame me? Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews? Of course I liked it. Despite some major changes (for instance, Mia's father is still alive in the books) and some rather minor ones (it doesn't matter too much plot wise that the location changed from New York City to San Francisco, at least in my opinion. Though, that's what this blog is, my opinion) I feel like it's a fun movie that is easy to watch either alone or with friends, and it's not the type of movie you have to pay attention every second to remember what is going on with the plot.

On the other hand, I am not a huge fan of the sequel. I did see it twice in theaters (a rarity for me) and own the DVD, but overall it's low on my list of likes. I didn't care much for the repeat of jokes from the first movie, “thank you culinary people” and my favorite line from the trailer was cut as well (“Grandma said shut-up? Shut-up!”). Plus, I was always the one holding out for Mia and Michael to get back together. Overall, that was one book deviation I really wasn't okay with. But I will still occasionally pop it in the DVD on a lazy afternoon of watching movies.

As a whole, I enjoy these movies quite a bit. I have a tendency to like movies based on books far more if I see the movie before I read the book. If I have already read the book, I tend to be more attached to the characters and plot and be unhappy when things are changed. Thankfully at the time of the first movie's release, I did not realize it was based on a book and I'm sure this is part of why I enjoy it so much. If you haven't seen it yet and are in need of a fun chick flick, grab both movies and set your self up for a fun marathon.

Check out the amazing Meg Cabot on Facebook and Twitter!

The Devil Wears Prada

I guess I am a bit of an Anne Hathaway fan. I don't make it point to see all of her movies, but I've seen many and enjoyed most. (How did Jane Austen fans feel about Becoming Jane? I'm sad to say I was bored during it, though I am willing to give it another try.). I immediately wanted to see The Devil Wears Prada the first time I saw the trailer. I loved it then (though I was the one in the theater overly upset that Meryl Streep's daughters now had copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I did not) and it is still in heavy rotation in my DVD player (how I love unintentional puns). I didn't realize immediately that this movie was based on a book. That happens to me often with adult fiction (I have a habit of heading directly to the Young Adult books, checking out of the kids fiction and picture books, making a stop in the biography section, then discovering that I am about to buy more books than I should and leave without ever making it to the rest of the bookstore-or library) so I often miss out on those sort of things. But I found Lauren Weisberger's book (I believe on display at WalMart), immediately bought it and began to read.

I am fairly certain that had I read this book without seeing the movie I would have enjoyed it. But reading it after the movie, I felt a little let down (another case of liking a movie better if I see the movie first). I was especially disappointed with the book's ending. Good for book-Andy to take financial responsibility and get rid of clothes she didn't need to pay off her loans. But I prefer that movie version of Andy giving the clothes she received in Paris to Emily. I liked seeing this character I already loved, doing the selfless thing to benefit someone who was never really nice, but who deep down I think wanted to be.

The book has fun characters that were sadly cut from the movie, but for time and such, these cuts made sense. Overall, I absolutely love the movie and the book will always have a spot on my shelves. It's likely that the book will receive several re-reads from me as well. This is another fun movie for a group of women to watch together (and for a marathon, team it with Confessions of a Shopaholic, and I recommend both Sophie Kinsella's book and the movie in this case!).

I hope I've given you some useful movie ideas.  As always, read the books and make your own opinion.  If you like books I didn't that's fine.  And if you disagree with my opinion, that's okay too.  

Happy Reading!

-Melly