Artsy fartsy AF

Hey, dear reader, just sharing with you some of the posts I made on Instagram. Sometimes, when I find myself with a pocket of time, I take out my pointed pen and inks and do calligraphy shiz. It's quite a relaxing hobby actually. Tests my patience, which I sorely lack. And it grounds me, as I'm forced to accept imperfections, especially when my hand gets all shaky after days of no practice.

Currently reading this, and enjoying it much more than Cloud Atlas.
I think I have all of David Mitchell's novels, but I have yet to really enjoy one.

Slow but very satisfying
One of the few novels that I wish more people read.

Still currently reading this one
Somehow, I can't get fully behind on the writing style, but quite intiguing though.

A short and charming read
Can't imagine a booklover not liking this.

Underwhelming and too drawn out
Read for a book club discussion.

My surprise discovery of the year
Love this series to bits.

Eye candy

I must admit it—I'm a book cover junkie. I mean, there's just no way that I'm gonna spend hard-earned money on a book with that has a bad cover. Books are expensive, no? And here in my corner of the world, I noticed that book prices have become quite steep lately. (It couldn't be because of that stupid effing TRAIN law, could it? But everything's seems pricier lately because of it.) Also, the book cover is like the cherry on a banana split or a sundae. It somehow completes that damn thing, making it prettier. Good ice cream and luscious cherry = one helluva dessert. If that cherry ain't shiny red and didn't have that stalk that people with dextrous tongues can tie into a knot (oooh, the possibilities!), then what's the point. I might as well just eat sugar to end my meal, which I may have done a few times before, in the past, like yesterday.

If you think you've written a fine novel or the next Harry Potter or some sexy piece of fiction that people would get their rocks off to, then wouldn't you want to have one eye candy of a cover? Yes, I know that beauty is subjective (what isn't?), but there are certain things in life that make you gasp because it's beautiful, yes? I'm not even talking about the principles of design, as I know nothing about them. I guess I'm just talking about a beautiful, well-designed cover in the same way that the US Supreme Court couldn't even give a good definition of what's pornographic. In their words, "I'll know it when I see it."

I love simple book cover designs. So no screaming typefaces and sloppy Photoshop. And also, no cliches like headless women for romance books. I know that my aesthetic taste differ significantly from many people, but when it comes to book covers, we bibliophiles can spot an ugly cover a mile off, right? It's this difference in our aesthetic tastes that make for interesting scenarios. Like clothes shopping with the bf, for example. I can recall countless times when I particularly liked a shirt or a shoe and then asked him if it looked good, and then felt thrown off when he said, "Eeeehhhh" or "Just choose another one" or my most dreaded "It's just okay." The thing is, I kinda trust him on these things. He's a graphic designer, and a damn good one. Still, farewell cute shirt, bye-bye awesome shoes. You could've been mine.

Anyway, I've digressed. So let's return to book covers. The photo below is a favorite.

I don't think these Signet Classic editions are in print anymore. Sad. So I get hold of them at secondhand bookshops. I've read a few of these babies when I was a teenager, and I have yet to met a book cover from this line that I didn't like. Let's break it down.

Lots of white space on this one. So it doesn't appear to be busy. Notice how the author's name stands out, with the clean serif typeface. Normally I don't like things written in all caps, but I'll take this one. The typeface used is so elegant that it doesn't come across as being loud. And the title! It's done in calligraphy! I'm a bit wary when I see calligraphic typefaces nowadays, as most of them are done by computer, which I think is sort of cheating. Beautiful calligraphy takes time to do. I know that the calligraphy on this cover is done by hand because of the slight letter differences. Look at all three letter Es. They have different  lead-in and exit strokes and different eyes (which is the enclosed part in the small letter e). Oy, typography orgasm!

The most awesome element of the Signet Classic book covers would have to the figures which are all hand painted. The two ladies in this cover have such intricate details in their composition. In a way, it's a painting within a painting, as the ladies' dresses serve as a canvas to smaller painted scenes. They don't make these kind of covers anymore, I think. Such a shame.

Of course, it wouldn't be the same if I weren't going to nitpick. One thing that I don't like about these editions is that the ink smudges. So after reading more than 10 pages, your fingers have this grayish smudge. This means only one thing though—you can't pick your nose after reading. 

Such pretty, pretty, pretty colors

There's a particular scene in the movie "You've Got Mail" when Meg Ryan helps out a book store clerk and a customer look for Noel Streatfeild's books. When I saw that movie years ago, I immediately got curious about these classic children's books and decided that I would read them.

And like Meg Ryan's character, my favorite is Ballet Shoes. It was published in 1936, and yet it's still as entertaining as ever. Very, very wholesome fun. It provides a much needed diversion after I've been re-reading the violent The Godfather these past few days.

The other books are quite good too. I'm still looking for Tennis Shoes though. I hope they have it in bookstores soon. The Shoes series are wonderful. If I had kids, these are the books that I would read to them every night.

Oh, by the way, Noel Streatfeild is a woman.

Fantastic storytelling

Ten years ago, I wouldn't find myself near a graphic novel. Those things are trashy and people who read and buy them should be looked down on. Pictures, panels, speech bubbles—these are not the elements of good literature. Yes, middle class Filipinos believed this horse shit. So for 3 decades, most of my reading consisted of books that just have text.

Enter Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, and everything I knew about the graphic novel genre would be strewn to the floor. In other words, I bit the dust. When I read the first page of my first Sandman compilation, I was like, "How come I'm reading this wonderful 'horse shit' only now? What glorious horse shit this is!"

It was my good friend R. who gave me my first Sandman compilation—Fables & Reflections, the 6th volume of the series. It's still my favorite volume, coincidentally. S far, I have 6 of the 12 volumes. Still a long way to go. And still many times in the future wherein I'd empty my wallet. Those graphic novels, they're just too damn expensive.

I've grown to the love the mystical world of the Endless: Morpheus (Dream) and his 6 six siblings (Destiny, Death, Delirium, Destruction, Despair, and Desire). The stories in The Sandman are a combination of horror, mystery, and fantasy. Fantastic storytelling, I tell you, dear reader. And one that you'd like to return to every now and then.

Our book for this month at the book club is actually the 4th volume, Season of Mists. It's a very dark read, and it's heavy on mythology. You'd get to meet Bast, Thor, Odin, the Japanese god of storms, faeries, fallen angels, and even Lucifer himself. You can't go wrong with these characters, right? More so if you find out that Lucifer has called it quits and has turned over the keys of hell to you.

Jon Snow: Who is the Sandman? What sorcery is this?
Me: You know nothing, Jon Snow.

How very timely to be reading The Sandman now! Gaiman has come up with a 6-issue bimonthly miniseries of a Sandman prequel. Woot woot! The first issue's just been released last 30 October, and I've been itching to get my hands on one. Finally, last Saturday I was able to get a copy. I could die now. Well, at least after I've read the 6th issue.

Less is more

It's no secret that I love books with beautiful covers. Beautiful is subjective, yes? But, most of the time, I find that I'm particularly attracted to covers with a rather minimalistic aesthetic. I prefer non-busy covers, those covers that let my imagination work.

Take for example the 2 books above: David Levithan's debut novel Boy Meets Boy and R. J. Palacio's Wonder. Isn't your curiosity piqued just by looking at their elegantly sparse elements? Up front, we know that Levithan's work is LGBT themed, but that's about it. You're actually eager to know the story.

The cover of Wonder is another design that works for me. I love the simple line drawing. And that lone eye rendered in light blue, albeit done very subtly, speaks volumes. We imagine the novel to tackle a theme on the significance of one's physical appearance.

I have lots of respect for cover designers, nay, graphic designers in general. They're a talented bunch. I guess that respect comes from my being non-gifted in that artistic field. Non-gifted is an understatement though, as I can hardly draw stick figures.

How about you, dear reader? What kind of cover designs do you like?

The ones with the ridiculously cheesy covers

I'm no artist. I can't draw, can't pait, can't do anything with Photoshop, can't do simple art designs. This list of "can'ts" in line with art is just too embarrassing. When God showered Earth with all those artisic genes, I must've been using an umbrella on that day.

There's one thing that I do know though, and that's telling when a particular book cover is bad. Remember when the US Supreme Court had trouble defining pornography? They had to resort to this I'll-know-it-when-I-see-it line of reasoning. It's the same with book covers in my case.

I'm sure you get my feelings. And it's particularly disheartening when good books have these awful covers. Take the case of Lois McMaster Bujold's wonderful Vorkisigan novels. It's still an ongoing series, but the current crop of novels in this series have received very positive responses from both readers and critics. A lot of these novels have been shortlisted for either the Hugo or the Nebula, sometimes even both.

If you're looking for an exciting sci-fi read, I highly recommend the Vorkosigan novels. Miles Vorkosigan reminds me a lot of Tyrion Lannister, with his deformed frame and his shrewd but brilliant mind. I'm warning you though: these books are not eye candy on one's shelf.

I have a long list of gripe regarding the covers for this series. The artwork is so uninspired that it doesn't leave anything to the imagination. Let's put spaceships! And people shooting laser guns! We have weddings, so let's go for 2 people slow dancing! And don't forget the imperial guards standing at attention! Argh! I die of cheese.

Nevertheless, I will persevere and try to get my hands on the rest of the novels in the series. Good stories vs. covers that can cause epileptic fits? Really, it's no contest.

Those beautiful covers from Penguin

What better way for a publisher to celebrate it's 75th anniversary than to come up with a retrospective of some of its memorable cover designs, no? Penguin did exactly just that, coming out with a visually stunning book on some of their covers with commentaries from the author, the designer, and the creative director.

Buying this book was a no-brainer for me. It's no secret that I'm a Penguin junkie. And I was curious as to the actual process that goes with the generation of Penguin's beautiful covers.

Penguin 75, which is edited by no less than Penguin's Executive Vice President Creative Director Paul Buckley, is a very eye-opening book. It shows you the interesting dynamic between the author and the creative team. Some of the stories included in the book are quite funny actually. Below, I picked a few from the 75 books contained in this collection.

The author, Jim Powell, thought that this cover was brilliant.

The designer had a different opinion though,

saying that the yellow he used looked a bit washed out. 

This cover is just too beautiful.

The elements (i.e., the portrait, the tree, the dark atmosphere)

work really well in telling you about the books of these 3 Bronte sisters. 

The small leftmost image is the hardback cover,

and the small red one is the rejected paperback cover.

For the approved paperback design, the designer simply used the 

image of the original cover, which was an actual photo.

I've never read a Durrell.

But these designs want me to head to the bookstore

and buy all these copies. 

The cover for Gilbert's nonfiction work was hell to work on.

They had to do the photo shoot twice because of poor lighting.

And the petals used to form 'love' easily wilted, so they had to work fast. 

The estate of Ian Fleming wanted no female nudes nor images of 

James Bond when Penguin was designing this series.

However, they did manage to sneak in a couple of naked women. 

The designer of The Canterbury Tales wanted a design 

that wouldn't come off as boring.

He actually wants the readers to guess the characters 

he placed on the cover. 

I think this is very edgy, yes?

What comes to your mind when you see 

a teddy bear shagging a doll?

The designer was somewhat concerned that the pink color used 

for the transvestite sleuth in this mystery series might seem offensive.

Good thing that they decided to stick with it, as the cover is quite arresting. 

Sometimes, all one needs for a captivating design 

are a solid color and beautiful typography. 

Penguin is particularly proud of their Penguin Classics,

which is the line that they're famous for.

But because of the limited print-runs for these titles,

all these designs are done in-house. 

This is one of my favorites.

The images used are perfect for the title. 

William T. Vollman sent this waiver and invoice to Penguin

when he photographed 3 prostitutes for the cover of his book below.

 They had to hide the prostitutes' faces because of 

legal issues.

In the cover on the right, notice the man who seems to be 

running away from something.

Penguin actually used one of the designers 

to serve as a model (small leftmost image).

Beautiful illustrations used in one of Penguin's short story anthologies

Book lovers are a judgmental lot

One lazy late afternoon, I was just wandering aimlessly in the bookstore when I stopped dead because of a book. Well, more specifically, because of a book cover. Oh, be still my heart! I couldn't resist a book with a gorgeous cover.

So who's Ben Marcus and what the heck is The Flame Alphabet about? Oy! I couldn't care less; I needed to own it! I need this eye candy on my shelf! (Although I did Google this book as soon as I got home and was relieved that it had such wonderful reviews.)

Everyone knows that "Don't judge a book by its cover" saying, no? But we bibliophiles know that that ain't true. Not true at all. Not by a long shot. We're suckers for books with beautiful covers.

XOXO

Deluxe

It's clear by now that I'm probably the biggest Penguin fan. I love all of their imprints. But my favorite of all is the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions.

I love these editions because of four reasons: (1) the very beautiful covers, (2) the French flaps, (3) the thick book paper, and (4) the deckle edges. Of course, they also look beautiful on the shelf.

Penguin Threads, one of their recent cover initiatives

Cover art done by hand stitching and embroidery!

Their Graham Greene covers feature illustrations by Brian Cronin.

Cronin also did the cover illustrations for the Penguin reissues of Wyndham novels.

Cartoon-inspired covers!

I feel that this aesthetic adds an element of fun while doing some serious reading. 

Words can't describe the artistry that went into these 2 cover designs.

The Lovecraft cover has a very apt weird feel to it, and the Siddhartha is very sublime.

I love the woodcut effect of the Shirley Jackson cover.

And the Borges features an illustration by Peter Sís. 

My absolute favorite: the couture editions!

Ruben Toledo, renowned fashion illustrator, did the covers. 

Very, very artistic, no?

And yet some more Penguin love

Pardon me, dear reader, for another Penguin post. When I saw that the English Penguin Library came out with new covers, I just had to get a few!

I often think how Penguin is able to come up with such simple yet elegant book covers. And they're giving me another reason not to switch to ebook readers. These books are just too beautiful on the shelf.

The set of 100 titles will be complete by the end of this year, with a few titles being available each month. I already ticked off the titles that I will be getting.

And I'm so happy that Penguin made these books quite affordable. In local bookstores, they're around $7 each. We know what this means—my shelves will be filled with Penguins!

Loving John Wyndham

My favorite science fiction novels—The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids—were written by John Wyndham (1903–1969). I'm not big on this genre, but Wyndham made reading these classic SF novels so enjoyable.

So it's a good thing when these classic works are again made available commercially in beautiful editions. You gotta hand it to Penguin for coming up with very artsy covers for Wyndham's under-appreciated novels.

The illustrations on the cover look very edgy, don't they? There's a certain flawed-in-the-right-places aspect to them. The illustrator, Brian Cronin, also did the illustrations for the Penguin Deluxe Editions of the novels of Graham Greene, also another favorite novelist of mine.

I just finished reading Chocky (my thoughts on the next post), and again I wasn't disappointed. It's hard to imagine that Wyndham wrote most of his novels in the 1950s; these novels still manage to disturb and come off as ingenious up to the last page.

A hundred postcards and a couple of mugs

During a recent trip out of the country, all I had in mind was to get the Penguin mugs I spotted on the Facebook page of BooksActually. But since I arrived a day early for the business appointments, I decided to check out Kinokuniya again.

When I saw a boxed set of 100 postcards showing vintage Penguin covers, I just knew I had to get it. I love all things Penguin, so it's a no-brainer that I ended up emptying my wallet. But it was so worth it! This set is so beautiful. Even the packaging was awesome!

The set even has some of the classic works that I love. I just love the solid colors and the sans serif typefaces. For these designs, less is indeed more.

I selected a few of these cover designs that I love. Here are my favorites.

And finally, I did manage to find the time to get my big ass to Tiong Bahru where BooksActually is. Now, every time I'll be drinking coffee, there'll be something book-ish in the experience.

Next time, I'll try to get more Penguin stuff. Who doesn't love that adorable avian creature who has graced the spines of many of our beloved books?