Me on This Week's Book(less) Week (41)

This Week's Book(less) Week is like Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews only names by me. And no books.

What do you guys want to see during the Canadian YA Lit event? Besides a giveaway. Which there will be.

I developed an awesome bruise this week. I know that sounds weird. I had some blood drawn early in the week and the nurse had to move the needle around a bit and so now I've got this wicked bruise on my arm. :)

(I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm actually writing this bit on Monday.) So, I saw Penguin Teen tweet that the Isla and the Happily Ever After cover would be revealed on the 28th, as well as new covers for Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. There has been so much blogger frustration over cover changes, and with Penguin especially, they seem rather notorious for changing covers during a series. But it's not just them. Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Disney-Hyperion, Hachette. I wouldn't be surprised if every publisher is guilty of annoying readers by changing the cover part-way through a series.

Now, take a look at some release dates. Anna: Dec 2 2010. Lola: Sept 29 2011. Isla: Sept 17 2013. It'll be 2 years between books. The cover change makes sense. Refresh, revamp, draw in new readers. Re-release Anna and Lola with new covers in paperback soon then Isla in hardcover in September. From a marketing standpoint, it makes sense. From an existing reader and fan of the previous covers and someone who hates it when book spines don't match on bookshelves standpoint, it stings. Since this is all speculation on my part, I'd love to know Penguin's reasoning behind it.

As the week went on (it's Wednesday afternoon as of this sentence), I became indifferent. Stephanie Perkins tweeted that she loves the new covers, that they're like her dream covers, that they're worth the change. On Wednesday, Kelly Jensen made a good point, and I'm going to paste her tweet here: "It's getting too hard to keep up with all the cover reveals and when and where and then it's super easy to forget the book period." Because it's true.

(And now it's Thursday and the new covers have been revealed.) It's amazing how people can be so passionate about their resistance to change. My Twitter feed is right now (Thursday afternoon) filled with a mixture of anger, enjoyment, marketing rage, and multiple people telling everyone to calm down and move on. I like the new covers, I'm happy that the author loves them so much, and this just means we're a little bit closer to FINALLY READING ISLA.

I debated on whether or not to totally erase what I'd written earlier in the week and barely talk about this, but I didn't. Feel free to comment at will. Or not. It's up to you. :)

No books this week. Instead, here's what I read over the past week and a bit. :)

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider (You guys know me, you know I don't read a lot of contemporary YA, but there's something about this book. It's out in June. Also, I've heard that this isn't the final cover.)
Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz (So many series are ending this year, I'm getting all emotional.)
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (I've read Wells' Moreau, so I knew what would happen, but I didn't expect the echoing liquid SQUICK sound that traveled through the book. Finally, some proper gothic horror. My review will be up in a couple of weeks.)
Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (A re-read because of another book.)
Every Never After by Lesley Livingston (I really like Lesley's books, yay for Canadian content, and this series is all kinds of history and time travel and geek fun.)
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster (A rather interesting fantasy with Asian inspiration.)