A customer, on seeing a copy of Great Expectations:
“Look, they bring books out on all the TV programmes now.”

And what’s more: A commenter of the Read Street article mentioned a twitter tag #bookstorebingo, which turned out to be a must read. I already found this gem there just by going through the first 10 tweets:

Customer: Do you have Candied by Voltron?

Isn’t that dead funny? I’m laughing my ass off here right now.

Credits for image: Blackboard image by gfordham
from Stock Exchange, Fonts: Viper Nora & Vaguely repulsive

For the second instalment of my German(y) for the bookish traveller series I am listing a few terms that you might encounter when you walk around a bookshop.

I’m sure there are many more, therefore don’t consider this list to be comprehensive. If you want to know a specific term not covered yet, just ask!

German (kids’ and adult edition)

I like the way the cover focuses on the chess match. The adult cover doesn’t say much at all about the book. And even though I don’t see the reason for an adult cover (by now everybody who sees you reading this book knows you are reading a kids’  – or is it YA?- book).

UK (kids’ and adult edition)

Hogwarts Express is quite nice, too. I like the adult cover, even though I still don’t see the point).

US (regular, anniversary and collectors’ edition)

I don’t like the covers at all, too flashy for my taste. The collector’s edition is probably supposed to be reminding us of old, leather bound books, but does it achieve it? Not really.

If I was an American reader I would be thoroughly pissed off about the change of title and would boycott the US editions for that reason. Why they felt the need to change the title for the American market is beyond me. The thing has been called the Philosopher’s Stone (or "Stein der Weisen”) within living memory, so why change it? Even IF there are people who have not heard about it they can google it, for Christ’s sake or – as a last resort – use a dictionary.

Which cover do you like best?

Do you think there is a need for adult covers?

What do you think about the change of the American title?

Let me know!

I want to give you a short outlook to what giveaways to expect here at The Bookkeeper. I am planning four giveaways, each with a different theme. There will be a romance, a thriller and a horror giveaway (all open to Europe) and a fourth giveaway open to everybody. If you are a Vampire Slayer fan you want to have a look at the last one.

Come back Friday and check out some new blogs and enter as many giveaways as you like.

I updated my TBR pile on Goodreads and the actual number of books to read I have right here at my fingertips (not only on a virtual wish list) amounts to a whopping 37. Not too bad at all!

Another thing is my reading list. I know. September has only started and I already have to revise it.

I think I have to make the following changes to the list…

• “The Gargoyle” is still on. It IS the September read at the Unputdownables Book Club at Goodreads.
• I will read “The Jane Austen Book Club” simply because I will have to return it soon and I already started reading it.
• I don’t want to lament again about “The Shipping News” but this book really is not for me. I’ll hang on though.
• Then I need to put “The Black Dragon” on the back burner. I managed to get “Fugitive” by Cheryl Brooks at my swap site. The Cat Star chronicles are just such fun to read. Fluff, yes, but oh so nice. I’m allergic to cats, but I certainly wouldn’t mind having one of them at home, .
• Dreamspinner just released “The Outlaw”, a steampunk  m/m romance by Rebecca Leigh. I can’t resist this. I have heard so much about Steampunk, but never read anything, so this opportunity is just too good to pass.

Depending on how quick I am (not too quick I’m afraid, since I also started working again after my vacation) I will read one more of my original list, but this is about it.

Right, so book buying ban. Carin from A little Bookish has put together a list of hints to help us through the month. Hop over to her blog and get a few ideas!

Have a look at Alexander S. Budnitz’ Cover Archive! You can search for covers starting from the year 1900 up to now.

A feast for the eyes of book lovers…

We decided to call ourselves Motley Books because our collection is rather, um, motley. We only have a handful of books up, but will continuously add more. If you would like to know about new books available you can follow Motley Books on twitter.

To see our books for sale, please go to Motley Books’ booklooker page. See you there !

• “The Gargoyle” by Andrew Davidson for the Unputdownables Book Club September Read on Goodreads
• “Fit for Life” by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond

• “Annie and the Ripper” by Tim Champlin. A Jack the Ripper tale with a Western twist featuring Annie Oakley. The blurb sounded so enticing (and Jack the Ripper is such a cozy mystery topic) that I couldn’t resist getting it.
• “Conventional Education” by TC Blue, the second instalment in a series. Here is my review.
• “Unconventional” by TC Blue, the third and last instalment in the same series.
• “After Hours” by Cassandra Gold, a very short story from Torquere Books.

What have you received in your mailbox since your last mailbox post?

There hopefully won’t be much in my mailbox in the next few weeks due to the Book Buying ban in effect fin September. Hopefully I will be able to stick to it, we’ll see.

So get out your crochet hook or knitting needles and create some handmade bookmarks for yourself or a fellow book lover!

(Image source: flickr, framboise)