A few weeks back I managed to get my hands on a really gorgeous book by author Laini Taylor, called Lips Touch: Three Times, which features some wonderful illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo.
Now this is the kind of true gem that can make a bookworm and art nut like me jump around the room with enthusiasm like a little kid.
Not much is conventional about this book: not the format, not treatment of the topic, and definitely not the design and illustrations. It is a book about kisses, and yet there is nothing ordinary about them or what they mean. These kisses are life-changing, but they are neither cliche-sugary, nor for the faint of heart. These are not your average Disney-like fairy tales, but compelling - and maybe even a little haunting - novelettes with a twist. The illustrations, all done in shades of black and red, are just as eerie and delicious as the author's prose. Clustered in the beginning of each story, they reveal past events that we otherwise only glimpse at in the plot. The design of the whole book - from the ornamental backgrounds and red initials to the red and black borders of the illustrations - is done with great care and attention to detail. This investment definitely paid off, as the book was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2009. It also paid off because people are in love with the beauty that is this book.
And, honestly, how cool is "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" for a story title! VERY cool, this is what I say :)
Enjoy some images of this book that I took this weekend (and I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws or anything by posting them; that's definitely not my intention):
P.S. Have you guessed who did the cover design yet? Christopher Stengel, of course. Man, this guy is good.
Now this is the kind of true gem that can make a bookworm and art nut like me jump around the room with enthusiasm like a little kid.
Not much is conventional about this book: not the format, not treatment of the topic, and definitely not the design and illustrations. It is a book about kisses, and yet there is nothing ordinary about them or what they mean. These kisses are life-changing, but they are neither cliche-sugary, nor for the faint of heart. These are not your average Disney-like fairy tales, but compelling - and maybe even a little haunting - novelettes with a twist. The illustrations, all done in shades of black and red, are just as eerie and delicious as the author's prose. Clustered in the beginning of each story, they reveal past events that we otherwise only glimpse at in the plot. The design of the whole book - from the ornamental backgrounds and red initials to the red and black borders of the illustrations - is done with great care and attention to detail. This investment definitely paid off, as the book was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2009. It also paid off because people are in love with the beauty that is this book.
And, honestly, how cool is "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" for a story title! VERY cool, this is what I say :)
Enjoy some images of this book that I took this weekend (and I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws or anything by posting them; that's definitely not my intention):
P.S. Have you guessed who did the cover design yet? Christopher Stengel, of course. Man, this guy is good.
1 comment:
Dont know how i missed this comment! your description to the book is now luring me into reading it.
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