My Precious! - May 2015 Book Haul Continues ... Again

This is a Folio Society edition of "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman. I have a confession to make, I bought this book new through the Folio Society. This is one of my absolute favorite books, this edition is one of the prettiest editions that I have ever witnessed, and I could not find it used anywhere. So yes, I purchased it brand spanking new, and I have no regrets about that purchase. It is bound in a green cloth, and has gorgeous black and gold embossed illustrations on the front cover and on the spine. As is typical in the Folio Society editions, it includes a slip-case (this one is orange), does not include a attached silk-bookmark, and has regular non gilded pages.

                 The front and back end-papers are in a gorgeous illustrated map.

               And there are several beautiful illustrations throughout the book as well.

This edition will be replacing the paperback edition that I had in my library prior. I think that we can all agree that this Folio Society copy wins hands down, no questions asked.

This is now one of my favorite books featured in my library, and I will own it with pride. I have read this title twice already, and I will be reading it several more times in the future. It comes highly recommended. You can read the book review that I wrote on it, here : Book Review of "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
This is my precious! It will be jealously guarded.

Physical Book Review Of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin

                                        
My edition of "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austin is the Barnes and Noble collectible leather bound edition, a complete work of her seven novels. I prefer my books being in single novel form, but this is indeed a beautiful edition. The book is bound in a green leather, with blue, white, and gold embossing on the front cover, spine, and back cover. Gold gilded pages, with a gold silk book-mark. Beautiful front and back end-papers are designed in a green and yellow flower pattern. No illustrations. This is a massive book, so a little awkward to hold and read, but also a nicely crafted edition.

This edition happens to still be available through Barnes and Noble. You can buy your own copy by following the link provided below.

Barnes and Noble - Jane Austin

Physical Book Review Of Dracula by Bram Stoker

My copy of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is from the Barnes and Noble collectible leather bound edition.
                                           
This is from a different collection in the Barnes and Noble collectible leather bound editions. This is the single novel collection, being one book within a book, and slightly smaller and shorter in build then the other books from their collections. A beautiful red leather, with black and silver accents. There are illustrations on the front cover, spine, and back cover (bat wings are pictured, with drops of blood, and white fangs are shown outlining the cover and spine). The front and back end papers are a beautiful marble, and the outer pages are tinted a ashy grey. The pages are very thick in this book, and appear to be of good quality. A red silk-bookmark. On the back cover is a quote taken from the book "Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!". No illustrations in the book. A absolutely gorgeous book, lovely to read and to showcase. I bought my edition for $10.00 (amazing value for the price!) through Barnes and Noble, but this edition is sadly no longer available for sale. They now have available, a inferior soft covered edition of this title, and no longer offer this beautiful hardcover edition.

Physical Book Review

I just completed the entire Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle. My book is the Barnes and Noble collectible leather bound edition.

Brown leather bounded with gorgeous illustrations on the front cover, spine, and back cover. If you run your hand over the back cover, the illustrations have a slight embossing to them. The front endpaper and back endpaper are in a plaid design, a few illustrations on the introductory page, but otherwise no other illustrations within the book. The leather itself is not of a high quality like you would have with the Easton Press or Franklin Library editions. Where the Easton Press and Franklin Library have a hard leather, Barnes and Noble is a softer leather. Which I actually like, as it is nice to handle and read. It has a good overall feel to it. The pages are gold gilded, and the book has a attached gold silk-bookmark. Now the pages are thin. This book contains four full-length novels and fifty-six short stories (it reads as nine novels), 1096 pages total. For such a large book the pages have to be thin. Other, smaller, editions in this collection have thicker pages. I don't have any complaints about the paper being thinner, or the font size. The overall book feels sturdy and well made, but because of the massive size of this edition the spine may be weaker, and you might have to handle it a little more gently. My only complaint is that I happened upon a few spelling errors throughout the book ...

I highly recommend this edition. It is beautifully crafted, looks amazing on the book shelf, and is a joy to read. The quality may not be on the same scale as Easton Press, but you know what, neither is the price tag. My opinion is that this is very good quality for a very reasonable price.

You can get your own edition here : Barnes and Noble - The Complete Sherlock Holmes
This edition is still currently available for sale, but a lot of their other editions are no longer available.