Top Ten Prettiest Books I Own

Hi all! Apologies for the complete lack of posting last week but unfortunately work and real life got in the way. (What a great start to my resolutions!).

As it’s freebie week this week for The Broke and the Bookish‘s Top Ten Tuesday, I decided I would talk about the Top Ten Prettiest Books I Own. (If I talked about the Top Ten Prettiest Books I Don’t Own we’d be here for days. I’ve already had to rule out graphic novels.)

Like many of us readers, and a fact that the publishing industry has exploited for ages (but particularly recently), I am a magpie when it comes to a pretty book cover. These are the ones you pick up, maybe weirdly stroke (those paperback Penguin English Library editions are so soft), carry around the bookshop with you for a while as you debate your budget and then inevitably line up on your shelf at home with delight. Also the Puffin in Bloom editions are totally calling to me. If I decide to buy Little Women this year I know what edition I’m getting. Just look at it:

Anyway! On with the list of the books I do own. I’ve doubled up on some photos to save space but mainly because they all look so pretty together. Strictly speaking this is a Top 19?

Harry Potter (Illustrated Philosopher’s Stone, The Colouring Book, Tales of Beedle the Bard & The Philosopher’s Stone)

I will always be a sucker for pretty editions of Harry Potter. (Those glow in the dark ones are at the top of my list) I was actually quite sad as I lost my original copy of Philosopher’s Stone a while back and this one does not match the rest of my series, but I have to admit it’s so pretty. Simple but effective. Tales of Beedle the Bard just looks really well designed and thought out, I love the little skull at the top. The cover for the illustrated version really hooked me (especially the train – it looks like it’s part dragon.) I have yet to take on the colouring book but it’s so shiny.

BioPunk, Litmus & Beta-Life

The cover of BioPunk is what originally attracted me to it; it’s a really interesting book of sci fi short stories written in conjunction with actual scientists & research. I’m sure this cropped up in a few of my university essays at some point too, particularly Sean O’Brien’s Story Time in which he worked with Dr Simon Stott on the idea of programmable memory. This made me buy Litmus & Beta-Life, which I have yet to read, but you’ve got to admit those covers are interesting. Litmus is about the stories behind famous scientific discoveries (ie. Newton’s apple, Joseph Swan’s mirror neurons) and Beta-Life looks at what artificial life may be like in the year 2070. If you’re a short story fanatic like me, definitely look at Comma Press, they have a great range of short story collections based around cities as well as crime, horror and new author anthologies.

Beautiful Chaos, The Silent Stars Go By, Only Human

I was so excited when these came out for the 50th anniversary. I love how they’re predominately black and white with accent colours, and if you look on the back the Tardis moves along with each Doctor:

I intended to get Tom Baker’s, as my favourite classic Doctor, but never got around to it.

Interesting Times

This called to me from a shelf in Waterstones in Birmingham. If I had the money and the time to read them all I’d get all of them but alas, I am but one woman. And there’s so many to choose from! (They’re actually divided into The Unseen University Editions, The Gods Editions, The Death Collection, The Witches Collection, the City Watch… you get the idea.) If I had to pick a collection to get I think it would be The Death Collection, but honestly I’m not sure I could choose!

Somewhere

I got this from Blackwell’s in Oxford a few years ago now, though they had the full set of There, Somewhere, Everywhere and Here (one day I will catch ’em all). One of these, I’m not sure which, also has Garth Nix’s short story The Big Question, which was also published in To Hold the Bridge. The back also looks like this:

 

Night Circus

I’ve written about this enough in my previous posts, but as well as having that striking front cover & the red edged pages, the prose and world in here are also beautiful.

The Peter Grant Series

I actually got Rivers of London on Kindle to try it out, but the covers have always attracted me, especially all the little details on the map that they add in. I’m a sucker for books that have a map, even if it’s just on the cover.

Fire Colour One

I picked this up at the Hay Festival last year, mainly because Jenny Valentine’s writing style has always hooked me and also because this cover is so striking, and it also relates well to the story.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I love Perks. I remember I borrowed a copy from a friend when I couldn’t sleep (at a sleepover. I know.) and I think I read almost all of it in one night and was probably very groggy on the train the next morning. I think it’s the font, the mixture of colours and the photo that really make it work. From the cover you already get a good insight into the character, and it always makes me want to re-read it whenever I see it.

So that was my Top Ten for this week! What did you think? What did you do for this week’s topic? Let me know in the comments!