We’ve been taught it’s wrong to judge a book by its cover. But surely we can all agree that it’s OK to covet a book for its cover? Or, better yet, to drool over a series of colorful spines? The recent release of Penguin’s Clothbound Classics series reminded everyone of the pleasures of a whole row of shelf candy, but what if your tastes run to smart paperback design (and cheaper prices)? After the jump you’ll find a gallery of our favorite paperback series that look as good on the shelf as they feel to read.
Melville House’s Art of the Novella
Melville House began this as a tribute to the neglected art of the novella, and they’ve continued to publish classics of the genre with their distinctive Pantone covers. They now have a companion series of contemporary novellas as well, if James and Fitzgerald aren’t your thing. At $10 a pop, you can’t really go wrong.
Comments (9)
Chicago Review Press re-issues lost bestsellers like “All This and Heaven Too,” “Forever Amber,” “Dragonwyck” (along with most of Anya Seton’s historical novels), and “Leave Her to Heaven.” After reading the original material it is easy to understand why their film adaptations couldn’t be, um, faithful!
norton critical editions!
I recently discovered the Melville novella series and ended up ordering ten of them in one pop!!!! I have them stacked up on my bedside table. They are wonderful!!
What about Persephone Books – gorgeous! http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/
this is the kind of booshwah crap i’d expect from the melbourne age’s sunday magazine, but it wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t insulting: ‘Lonely Planet proles’? a bit … classist, no?
interestingly, most of them have picked rather classic writers or works. So, maybe it is only the classics who can populate these kind of series, it is all about the content!
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[...] Boldtype, Flavorwire’s book newsletter ran an excellent feature about the success of serial publishing. The paperback series they feature have successfully garnered a devoted following by building a brand around their works. There’s a lot of insight here for publishers, who are so unfamiliar with their audiences that the majority of books they put out fail to make a profit. It’s also great resource for overloading your reading list with. [...]
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