Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Pause, Rewind

This has become way too complicated. Why did I even do this in the first place?

One: I love pretty books. I buy books based entirely on their cover. I can't bring myself to spend money on something ugly; I'm that shallow. And sometimes I don't even know what they're about, I just know they're pretty. And I love dresses on covers. I usually hate having models on the cover--like the paperback Goose Girl is just awful--but dresses...oh. Dresses.

Two: I once bought a book because of the pretty cover without reading the back and I quickly realized what an awful book it would be. From page one, it was utterly predictable. And in a fury I realized why can't you judge a book by its cover?

So I thought--Boom. I'll prove it. But that was an impassioned plan and it has failed. Mostly, I got tired of being wrong.

Stupid, misleading cover art.

So now I think I'll just combine two of my favorite things: judging and ranting. I shall become a connoisseur of books where I'm first concerned with presentation (it matters) but ultimately attached to its actual value. I'll still judge every book before I read it. That will mostly consist of me fawning over the pretty cover, but I'll also find something to say about how I think it might be. My assumptions, expectations, etc. We'll just see if my passion for pretty things gets me into trouble. As it usually does.

As for the verdict, that will be the review part. But it will mostly be me screaming over poor advertising. I'll refer specifically to the cover and how the book itself failed to live up to it. How it isn't nearly as good as the cover would lead you to believe.

Again with the stupid, misleading cover art.

But maybe one of these times it will actually match up. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Maybe I'll even be happily fulfilled. But I doubt it. Because, ever since I started this, it hasn't happened once. Just one disappointment after another. It just goes to show you, mom was right: you can't judge a book by its cover.

Doesn't mean I won't try.

3 comments:

  1. Boo. I liked the way you were doing it.

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  2. PS I agree about the cover models: I hate the newer cover for Ella Enchanted, the model looks 11, which makes Ella's love story super creepy.

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  3. well, isn't that sweet. I have a fan! ha yeah well, truth be told, I just don't like being wrong. And I keep getting it wrong. Or I can't spoil it, so I can't REALLY guess out loud.

    But it's still a little bit of guessing. because I'll be seeing if the cover lets you down; if it's misleading, you know. So...no worries, I'll still be judging (and probably failing...but let's just say it's the covers fault).

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