~ Does this happen to you too? ~

This afternoon i got mugged in my local bookstore... By a book.

I was minding my own business, thinking about what to buy for dinner, looking over a table of new books, when SLAP a book jumped out and whacked me around the face. What is it with books these days?  They all seem to have such tasty-looking covers, all sensual colours sprinkled with sparkling words and seductive titles. The book-mugger in question was called The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam - I mean, come on! I had no chance with a name like that. Of course, i have no idea what it's about (it's a novel), i just bought it for the name. Have you ever done that? Tell me it's not just me.

Beside my bed I have a wobbling tower of books that each night threatens to kill me in my sleep;  I just can't read fast enough to keep up with my book porn habit. I'm currently enthralled by Michel Faber's Under the Skin and getting to the end of The Gargoyle (not overly impressed) but there is one book that keeps batting its eyelids at me: The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite. The cover flirts with its swirling serif letters and plump red lips. I can understand the current seductive-ness of cookery books, with their vintage-y covers and luscious makes-you-dribble photography, but now it seems all books are fodder for our fantasies. I'm thinking my own book should be titled The Ambrosial Unravelling of the Tormented Damsel. It's catchy, yes?

Next up: The Valley of the Dolls, after Carla's timely reminder that I've never read it; at least with that cover you know exactly what you're getting.

Comments

[Melissa]

Oh you scared me! When I read the first few words, I really thought you'd been mugged in the bookstore. I thought "What kind of world do we live in?!" Glad it was just a book that whacked you about the face! : )

[kristen]

i'm glad that others buy books like that...covers, pretty jacket write up, etc.

i love nothing more than knowing i have a pile of books, get a little nervous when the supply is low.

[leaca]

I am going to have to check these out. I have started going to the library because I have too many books that I will never read twice. I will add these to my list.

[Angie]

I know, I know - I totally judge books by covers too! I recently bought "Notes on a Scandal" because of the cover... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Notes-Scandal-Zoë-Heller/dp/0141012250/

I have equally not bought books I thought I might like because they looked ugly.

[beth]

those books attack me all the time and I thought it was only at barnes and noble...but nope, they did it again the other day at target !!!

I love the covers, too and often now what keeps catching my eye is a book with a cover that's a photograph and I'm like "I could have shot that" and they could have used my photo....

now there's a dream of mine~my photo as a book cover~...wouldn't that just be fantastic ?
I just hope I don't have to write the book !

[beth]

NOT my photo...just one of my photos that I took....oops!!

[darlene]

oh yes, happens to me all the time ... with movies too ... duke always laughs at me and says i am seduced by the cover ... apparently, i have a type, he'll actually throw a book at me based on the cover because he knows i'll want it. the awesome thing is that mostly ... mostly, the guts of said book or movie are bang on and i've found some lovely gems :-)

hmmmm ... i have that same tower next to my bed actually, the book buying is always out of control :-)

[charlane]

oh yes...I'm mugged by books all the time. I'm totally judging them by the covers. :) great titles and cover art lure me in but I always read the blurb too just to make sure.

[carla white]

I was just looking for a good book to read. I'm getting "The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite" tonight! Thanks!!

[Lauren Liebenberg]

Well, I'm the author of the book that mugged you with its title - do hope you like what's inside then!

[Susannah]

I just emailed Lauren back:

hello Lauren! gosh, i hope you know that my blog post was just gently poking fun - i am actually very excited to read your book! I settled in with it last night on my sofa with a mug of tea and a big sigh of contentment - so far, i love it :)

[amy]

mmm, gorgeous books are some of my favourite things. Robert Dessaix's Arabesques has been on the top of my lurching reading pile lately. there are a couple of lovely bookshops in sydney conveniently (but problematically) close to my regular movie going haunts.

[Jo]

All. The. Time.
Those 3 for 2 offers are just too much for me. I roll over and let them do their worst.
And e-muggings are on the rise, did you know? Yes, those wishlists can be brutal.

[Carol]

I have to admit, it's usually the book cover that lures me... But I need to avoid doing that if I can. I've bought some awful books that way :-)

[Anna]

The Gargoyle ambushed me too ... I found the sarcastic, black humour strangely amusing.

[Stephanie]

YES!
Finally, I see that others have this same book obsession as I.
The stack next to the bed just keeps growing with heavenly, beautiful stacks of amazing reads.
I guess there could be worse kinds of obsessions...yes? ;)

[Kim]

I"ve always had a terrible habit of picking a book based on it's cover!

[Tiffany]

The last book I bought for its cover was,
"The Fuck-Up" and I hated it!

[Nicole]

All the time! My favourite haunt is a bookstore and cafe in one. Very clever and soooo old and gorgeous. The books are very insprirational and a hot chocolate on a windy day really tops it off.