I spent a little over a week in the UK (Cheltenham and Glasgow to be exact) and whenever I’m over there I end up buying too many things I can’t get in the US. The most of what I buy are books (surprise) because there are a lot of better covers. Books also tend to be a bit cheaper (even with the exchange rate) and most go right to paperback (I’m not the biggest fan of hardcover.) So here are the books I picked up over there at Waterstone’s and WH Smith.
- The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
This cover is similar to the US version BUT the pages!! LOOK!!
(If you missed it, I wrote a mini review of the book and made a playlist.) - Would I Lie To You? (by a lot of people involved with the show)
A thing the US doesn’t really have is quiz panel shows. Britain on the other hand has a ton and I love them. They’re kind of like game shows except with comedians and other celebrities. Would I Lie To You is one of my favorites (this explains it) and I spotted this in the airport. Apparently it doesn’t officially come out until September but airports get exclusives, which was news to me. This has 99 of the most common lies with the commentary from the showrunners and comedians regularly on the show. - You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
I do actually like the US cover of this, but it’s currently only in hardcover and I like the UK version a tad bit more so decided to get it. - Back Story by David Mitchell
David Mitchell (not to be confused with the author) is a British comedian who is on Would I Lie To You? plus a bunch of other shows I love. This memoir is only out on ebook in the US so I grabbed the paperback. - Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
The OTHER David Mitchell of Cloud Atlas fame. This is one of his I haven’t read and the cover is gorgeous. They also had a wonderful copy of Slade House with green pages, but I didn’t like that book enough to justify buying a physical copy. - Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I hadn’t read this yet and love the illustration. Purple!! - How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
Another Gaiman story I haven’t read. It’s short so wouldn’t take up much room in my luggage. There is an entire set of his books with excellent minimalist covers and I wanted them all, but then I would be broke and also couldn’t carry them all. - Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
A favorite of mine and the pulp fiction covers are so much fun. This also has pink edged pages. Why doesn’t the US have more paperbacks with colored pages? - For the Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser
This is one I grabbed mostly because it’s pretty and I needed a second book for a buy one get one half off deal. - Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
I kept seeing this pop up online, mostly from UK bloggers/vloggers. I don’t think it comes out until next year in the States and it sounds great. - Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
This one I think is available on Amazon in the US, but perhaps not officially out here? Unsure. I had heard about it though and it was part of Waterstone’s BOGO half off deal so I picked it up. - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
They have these wonderful patterned covers for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s books. I had recently bought Americanah in the US so couldn’t justify buying that even though I adore that cover, so went for Half of a Yellow Sun. - The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han
The US covers are so boring. Stock photo teens. UGH. While these UK ones are so cute. I haven’t read this series yet, but I love Jenny Han and decided I needed the set.
Actually amazing I didn’t end up getting more. I had considered buying another suitcase so I could get more, but exhibited some self control. The US of A needs to step up its cover game. More affordable books would also be nice, but that’s another conversation.