Angieville

On the heels of my search for the perfect The   Tenant of Wildfell Hall , I bring you my longtime search for the perfect O Pioneers! This book. This book is my very favorite Willa Cather. And that is saying something, as I consider her to be the actual Great American Novelist. I am so very grateful we made our way around to her in my tenth grade American literature class. I was so, so ready for a woman author and stories that felt like they represented the land I knew and loved, even if they hailed from time periods and life experiences entirely separate from my own. To this day, I count the first time I read O Pioneers! as one of the highlights of my life. I currently own a somewhat battered mass market copy (I believe it's a Signet Classic) with rows and rows of hay bales on it. Which is fine. But it doesn't sing the way the cover of this beautiful book should. And so I bring you the three editions I like best and ask your humble opinion. For a long time, I've lea...

I've mentioned before that I wrote my masters thesis on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall . What that means is this book is extremely dear to me. I first read it while on study abroad in London, and I fell madly in love with Anne's fierce introduction to the second edition and with Helen Graham and the way she slammed her bedroom door—her heart too thoroughly dried to be broken in a hurry, absolutely determined to live as long as she could. I own a rather limp Wordsworth Classics edition that I believe I picked up for a pound in a charity bookshop. It will always be my first. But I admit to having been on the lookout for a lovelier one for some time now. Which brings us to these three pretties. All available in fairly affordable copies from The Book Depository . Each eye-catching in its own way. I have to say, it will be difficult for me to resist the overturned glass of wine for the chills is sends down my spine (not the good ones, but if you've read the book you know ...

You guys. I have come across another perfect edition of a book I adore, and I simply have to share. Actually I discovered one lovely edition and that one led me to another, and, well, I need to know which you yourselves would choose. I ran across the whimsical yellow cover and found it charming, particularly in comparison to the edition I own , which I love, but which has determinedly large violet numbers on it. And we all know how I feel about violet anything on the covers of my beloved books. Sigh . But then.  Then.  I found the stamped AirMail envelope cover. My heart, you guys. It is perfect. I do really like the cream one with the actual photo of Marks & Co. on it, naturally. In fact, my heart clenches each time I look at it and remember that when I finally made it to London, that blessed shop had been turned into a Pizza Hut. A Pizza Hut . And so to exorcise the demons (and because I have no lender copy), I plan on ordering one of these lovelies sooner ra...

This Choose Your Own Edition comes to you courtesy of my Instagram rambles through evil, evil Maggie's feed . She posted a pic of the playing card edition of Markus Zusak 's The Messenger (published as I Am the Messenger here in the States), and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. I need that edition, you guys. My copy is the red and black American paperback from 2002, I believe. And while I am attached to it because I love the size and texture of it (and because it was the very first Zusak book I ever read), I've never loved the artwork. So one thing led to another and I found myself scouring the web for different editions.   Here you have my three favorites. They are—perhaps coincidentally—all Australian versions, and as such are not what you might call "readily available" to the likes of me. But availability (and funds) aside, let's talk covers. I love aspects of each, particularly the white figure of the juggler (whi...

This Choose Your Own Edition comes to you via my thus far failed attempts to foist a copy of  The Ruby in the Smoke   off on my friend Beth. The Sally Lockhart series is my favorite of Pullman's work, and I am just so eager for her to read that first incomparable line. My own copy is currently on loan in a different city and won't be returning soon. I did run across an older library copy for sale with a somewhat dismaying pale blue 90s cover and naturally turned my nose up at it (I did go back later but it was gone, naturally). Full disclosure: I am such a snob sometimes about the  cover  that accompanies someone's first impression of a book I love. Honestly, someone needs to beat it out of me. It's the reason I own three editions of  Sunshine  and yet only ever loan out one (my favorite first edition), so that new readers come into the experience with the right (IMHO) packaging.  SIGH .  In any event, with no copies ready to hand, I've bee...

So I figure I'm not the only one who regularly occasionally finds herself mired in the dilemma of which edition of a book to buy. With a number of lovely sites like The Book Depository out there, we collectors have increasingly easier access (thank you free shipping worldwide) to the gorgeous editions available to our friends on the other side of the world. And covers are such personal things, aren't they? I love browsing different editions and experiencing that moment when I see the one . The one that will live on my shelves. Of course, then it's a matter of locating it and scraping together the funds . . . but never mind that bit. All of this to say that I thought I'd start up an irregular and entirely at my personal whim feature entitled Choose Your Own Edition , in which I can secure your good opinion on which edition I should purchase of whichever book I'm romancing at the time. Up first: Rainbow Rowell's Landline .  I loved this book (as I ten...