Friday, April 27, 2007

fancy a bookcover ?



or maybe two ?



So last monday was not only world book day, but also marked the 2nd year I've started writing here. And because I'm me, I totally forgot. I actually thought it was later in the month, so it just goes to show you how terrible I am with dates.

To redeem myself, and because I'd like to thank you for having the time and patience to come here and read these ramblings, I've made two more of the new covers to give away (one is mass paperback size, the other is trade paperback/portuguese book size)



Not without a price, though .. oh no, you must do something for me in return. Something quite simple. Just leave a comment here with a book recommendation for me, preferably a book that you've enjoyed recently (or not so recently, but that you think I might find interesting). You see, I'm having a very disappointing year when it comes to reading (where have all the good books gone ?) and think it's time to change that. I'll draw two names sometime next week and will announce them here.



If you win one, you won't get it until I've returned from Brazil, though. I'm flying to S. Paulo again on business next Sunday, and will only be back a couple of weeks after. Yesterday, taking advantage of the discount day at the bookstore, I brought home this little pile, which will be my reading material for the trip. I can't wait to get started on the Thirteenth Letter (highly recommended by a friend), but the other two I'm not so sure of.



A last detail on the trade paperback size cover. A couple of friends complained that their books slip easily from inside their covers when they carry them in their bags, so I came up with this simple idea to prevent that. Just added two fabric strips to the interior so that the cover of the book can be slipped inside them, and still allow the flexibility for the bookcover to be used for thicker or narrower books. Such a simple idea, don't know how I didn't think about this before.





Have a great weekend (and holiday). I'll try to post here while I'm abroad, and hopefully with more photos of crafty shopping :)

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the kitty feet in some of the pictures! I suggest Anne of Green Gables. I'm reading it right now and though it's technically a "young adult" book, but its such a touching and fun story, I love reading it even now!

Kate said...

The bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. A really interesting read.

Anonymous said...

Ooh how exciting! Your book covers are absolutely amazing =)

Now, what to recommend!? Hmm...I'm going to go with Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes (or anything by MK, I love her humour), or, you can't go wrong with anything by Virginia Woolf, I've most recently read The Waves. =)

Funky Finds said...

wow! these are terrific. i have really been enjoying books by philipa gregory lately. i loved the other boelyn girl, as well as hanna green & the virgin's lover. i'm completely intrigued with the stories about king henry xiii & elizabeth i.

Anonymous said...

I love your book covers and the fabric you use. I read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne recently and thought it was excellent. It's actually a young adult novel, so it's a quick read, but I promise you once you pick it up you will not be able to put it down! I wrote a little blurb about it on my book blog here.

http://nose-in-a-book.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

Anonymous said...

Your book covers're all so lovely! And I would loved to get one if I can.

Now here're all the good books,
My All Time Favorite will be The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's a story about Santiago, a shepherd who dreams of travelling the world to seek the most wonderful treasures known to man. It's really inspiring as it is the kind of novel that tells you that everything is possible as long as you really want it to happen.

Followed up will be Time Traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Not just a sappy love story but a heartwrenching story that will leave the reader in anticipation for when they may find love that deep.

Last but no least will be Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Pocult. You can kind of relate it to the recent incident, Virgina Tech Massacre. It touches on the gunman and why he actually did it.

tragictruth@gmail.com

Birdsong Designs said...

Here are some recommendations for you. First: a book. I recommend "The Changeover" By Margaret Mahy. It's also technically young adult, but so well written, with the strongest female character I've seen in a YA book. It was my favorite fantasy book at 14 and still ranks up there.

Second: I recommend a website. www.bookmooch.com . It's my latest addiction. You list the books you want to give away, you can get any book that anyone else in the world wants to give away. The only cost is postage for books you give. You could get a lot of the books listed above on this site ;-)

Anonymous said...

The book covers look lovely! I love how you mix your fabrics.
I don't know if you have read
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time I found it amazingly well written and quite different.
My all time favorite book is The Dutch Wife It's quite a weird book!You will adore it or hate it! A Trip to the Stars
or any book by Nicolas Christopher. Also on the unusual side but amazingly beautiful. Or if you just want to laugh untill your belly hurts anything by Christopher Moore.My favorite is Lamb.
I hope you find something good to read!

Anonymous said...

Very pretty! And the new strips inside are a great idea!

As for book recommendations. Hmm, I've lately been reading nonfiction which can be interesting, but I don't feel compelled to recommend any. One I can recommend is a bit older, Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat). It's a mother-daughter story that I still think about, a year after I read it.

Unknown said...

Um livro que gostei bastante de ler foi "A Barragem contra o Pacifico", de Marguerite Duras.
O Alquimista de Paulo Coelho, foi o primeiro que li deste autor,"os tesouros estão onde menos esperas...."
Beijinhos, e faz uma boa viagem.
Sónia

Unknown said...

Both books I was going to recommend have already been listed: The Other Boelyn Girl & The Time Travellers Wife (my most fave!). I also recommend Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell- it's heavy going in places but I loved it.

Anonymous said...

I love all your creations! Richard Ford is my all-time favourite writer and I can't recommend the following three books highly enough (the last was published last year and completes the trilogy): The Sportswriter, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land. (Independence Day won both the Pulitzer and the PEN/Faulkner award.) I re-read the first two before savouring the third -- I think I should do this at least once every 10 years or so!

Unknown said...

Oh... How I drool over your book covers and your other creation such as the bags. Absolutely love the way you match fabrics up.

Anyway, my book recommendation. Marley and me by John Grogan. It a lovely book about the author and life with the world's worse dog, a labrador retriever. Check out this website http://www.marleyandme.com if it interests you!

Anonymous said...

I just love your bookcovers. They are always so beautiful. I would highly recommend 'The Bronze Horseman' by Paullina Simons to anyone. It really is a wonderful book.

.. said...

I will get some books ready for you - I am also in a sort of book rut, I know what would work for me, it´s just that I do not know of what I have not read would work for me. But hmm, lemme think.

Oh, and about the two strips, good idea - I am just using a sort of fold in the edge of the covers I make and it also works pretty well!

Alexandra said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robyn said...

Well, here's the thing. I read, I just don't have a lot of time to read and most of what I red is not current or is young adult ( I used to teach high school and just like that genre). Having said that, I would recommend The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver or any of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books. I've also heard that Friday Night Knitting Club is good and since you knit, you might like it.
Those book covers are wonderful, by the way. and congratulations on two years here. I've enjoyed reading.

Anonymous said...

Quando a leitura me corre mal, ou seja, não encontro algo que me encha o olho ou que me faça ficar horas a fio a ler, volto-me para os autores portugueses que sempre conseguem salvar o dia, principalmente:

Alice Vieira:
"Se perguntarem por mim digam que voei", "Os olhos de Ana Marta", "Graças e desgraças da corte de El-Rei Tadinho, monarca iluminado do reino das cem janelas"

E novamente Alice Vieira com outros autores portugueses:
"Os novos mistérios de Sintra" e "O código D'Avindes"

Gosto especialmente destes porque de capítulo em capítulo a esccrita muda pois muda o autor.

Já deu para perceber que gostas de ler em Inglês, mas há mais de um ano que não compro livros em Inglês.

Anonymous said...

Quando a leitura me corre mal, ou seja, não encontro algo que me encha o olho ou que me faça ficar horas a fio a ler, volto-me para os autores portugueses que sempre conseguem salvar o dia, principalmente:

Alice Vieira:
"Se perguntarem por mim digam que voei", "Os olhos de Ana Marta", "Graças e desgraças da corte de El-Rei Tadinho, monarca iluminado do reino das cem janelas"

E novamente Alice Vieira com outros autores portugueses:
"Os novos mistérios de Sintra" e "O código D'Avindes"

Gosto especialmente destes porque de capítulo em capítulo a esccrita muda pois muda o autor.

Já deu para perceber que gostas de ler em Inglês, mas há mais de um ano que não compro livros em Inglês.

Anonymous said...

I love "Totto Chan", a really good read!! ^o^

Anonymous said...

I would recommend any book by Jodi Picoult!! ALL of her books are amazing!! I've read about 5 of them since I discovered her about 3 months ago and I have really enjoyed every single one of them.

Right now I'm reading Vanishing Acts by Jodi.... and it keeps me up at night :D

Good luck finding that perfect read!! I know it can be hard.

ps... I have been coveting your book covers for soooo so long. And what a great idea to add the fabric strips... so simple yet brilliant.

Sandra Dias said...

What a great chance!
My recommendation is this book:
The Remedy by Michelle Lovric

(No início não dava nada por ele, mas conquistou-me)

Anonymous said...

O meu blog não apareceu, por que será?
www.handmadebylili.blogspot.com

Flor said...

Eu li alguns bons, mas acho que também já os leste. Acho que só te posso recomendar o "Behind the scenes at the museum" da Kate Atkinson.
Eu gostei muito do The Dante Club. Custei a entrar na história mas depois achei muito bom. Estou bastante curiosa para ler o The Poe Shadow do mesmo autor.
E boa viagem! Já só te vejo no regresso do Brasil :-)

P.S. E não quero entrar no concurso, já tenho muita coisa bonita feita por ti :-)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful book covers.... I recommend The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck and Three Junes by Julia Glass. I recently finished The Thirteenth Tale and I loved it!

jen

Beth said...

Well! My favourite topic - books!

Recent good reads of mine were A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (non fiction), A Map of Glass by Jane Urqhuart, and, if you can get your hands on a copy, The Nymph and the Lamp by Thomas Raddall.

All highly reccommended!

Beth said...

Oh! I almost forgot! Anything by Elizabeth Taylor! No, not THAT Elizabeth Taylor. Try A View of the Harbour!

HMaas said...

Your book covers are fabulous - But as for great books that I have recently read - I must confess there are alot - so I will condense the list to just three.
1. THREE - by Ted Dekker - mystery, suspense, love it!!!
2. The Red Tent - by Anita Diamant
3. The Chronicles of Narnia - I know they are young adult - but such a good read!
Enjoy your trip!!!

Sue said...

I just finished reading the Friday Night Knitting Club which I thought was really great, but I am sure your book choices are more along a different line of reading to me. I absolutely love your book covers, always look beautiful. Congrats too on nearly 2 years of blogging too.

Anonymous said...

One of the best books I've ever read (and I've read a LOT of books) is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Other favorites are Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and Belle Teal by Ann Martin. These last two are written for younger readers, but they are powerful stories. I could go on, but I'll stop except to say that I agree it's harder to find a good book than it was at one time.

Ellen said...

These covers are lovely. Since I am Canadian, I will reccomend a Canadian book. Vincent Lam won the Giller Prize this year for "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" - all short stories about doctors.
Happy Reading!
Ellen G.

Anonymous said...

Love the denim look!!
My current read is The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - very hard to put down.

Cheers .... Anne

Concha said...

"Pode um desejo imenso" de Frederico Lourenço (Cotovia). É mesmo muito bom, é de um autor português contemporâneo, a edição é excelente, lê-se de um fôlego... só qualidades!

Anonymous said...

Fazes-me falta de Inês Pedrosa é um livro que já li há algum tempo... mas muito bem escrito; gostei muito de responde-me de Susanna Tamaro.
Parabéns pelo teu trabalho!
maria

Anonymous said...

Here are there I've read recently and enjoyed:
Loved Walked In : Marisa de los Santos

Bread Alone : Judi Hendricks

Eat, Pray, Love : Elizabeth Gilbert

Enjoyable for different reasons!

omeucantinho said...

Ok... First, no complaints about your bookcovers. They work beautifully for me! Books... not having read much lately - how naive was I to think I would read the pile next to my bed during my maternity leave! - I would recommend: Bill Bryson's book "Notes from a Small Island" and, of course, Alice Sebold "The Lovely Bones".
Have a safe trip!

Anonymous said...

Ok... as minhas recomendações são: Memórias de uma Geisha de Arthur Golden(um livro que estou a adorar e que me custa ter que deixar de lado enquanto não terminar os 3 trabalhos que ainda tenho que entregar. É realmente viciante e com uma história linda e tocante), e, Codex 632, do nosso magnifico jornalista José Rodrigues dos Santos, que nos conta a maior conspiração que o mundo já viu (e, para quem goste de História é magnifico, pois, principalmente para nós portugueses, ficamos com o bichinho atrás da orelha).

Anonymous said...

I'm a loyal reader but a lazy commenter, but I can't pass up a chance to win a fabulous book cover. I'd like to recommend Vindication by Frances Sherwood and The Paperboy by Pete Dexter. Both are oldies but goodies.

Shel/Nate/Anipals said...

Just one book? I have such a hard time only recommending one, but how about Brick Lane by Monica Ali? It is the story of a Bengali girl who was married off in a traditional arranged marriage and sent to London, knowing no one (and barely knowing her husband) and not speaking any English. When I bought this book I stayed up all night reading it.

Anonymous said...

Como o Thirteenth Tale que levas já foi sugestão minha, não sugiro mais nada. Em relação às capas novas, só tenho uma coisa a dizer, quero uma! ;-)

joão coelho garcia said...

Olá, amiga Tânia!

Força para a viagem do Brasil. Com a hipótese de ganhar uma capa artesanal, não ia deixar de escrever. Vou recomendar o livro que acabei de ler "Novice to Master" de Soko Morinaga. Tem a desvantagem de se ler num instante, mas a vantagem de ser de graça porque to empresto.

Beijinhos,

João (Garcia)

computerarte said...

Um livro que gostei bastante e que li recentemente, foi o 'O Vendedor de Histórias' de Jostein Gaarder autor Norueguês.

Outra sugestão mas mais virada para o universo das lendas a saga de Jean-Louis Fetjaine, 'O Crepúsculo dos Elfos', a segunda parte 'A Noite dos Elfos' e a terceira parte 'A Hora dos Elfos, uma viajem bastante agradável pelo mundo medieval, gostei muito e também que foi recomendado.
Boa viagem e boas leituras!
Bjs,
Marília

Anonymous said...

If you read one book before you die, then it MUST be Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts.

Believe me. I know what I'm talking about.

Anonymous said...

Esta sugestão vai contra o que costumas ler, porque é um livro de uma escritora francesa, com edição em Português pela Presença (mas está bem traduzido!). "Pour l'amour de l'Inde", romance histórico que se lê de uma assentada, e através do qual fazes uma viagem pela India Britânica prestes a atingir a independência.

Boas leituras*

Anonymous said...

Li o livro “Como Água para Chocolate” de Laura Esquivel, e nunca mais me esqueci dele, não sei se foi porque era muito nova na altura e a leitura não fazia parte do meu dia a dia, a verdade é que depois DESTE livro descobri uma paixão adormecida … a leitura.
Parabéns pelos lindos trabalhos que fazes :)
Sónia

Anonymous said...

Já há algum tempo que sou leitora assidua do teu blog. Gosto imenso das coisas que fazes e sempre que as vejo fico cheia de vontade de pegar na agulha e na tesoura e arrancar com os projectos que se vão formando na minha cabeça. Mas...
Pediste sugestões de livros e aqui vão as minhas. Estes três são alguns do meu top 10:
"The red tent" Anita Diamand
"The lady and the unicorn" e "Girl with a pearl earring" de Tracy Chevalier.
Se não os conheces ainda digo-te apenas que são três romances de inspiração histórica. O "the lady and the unicorn" é inspirado nas fabulosas tapeçarias medievais que estão expostas no museu de Cluny em Paris.
Boas leituras e bons trabalhos.

jenny said...

anna karenina. classic!

AnaCAlmeida said...

Leo, the African by Amin Malouf, a true masterpiece of contemporary literature...

FRIZZ said...

Nice work. I love the fabric combinations.

Anonymous said...

I love your bookcover designs soooooooo much...

I recently read On Beauty by Zadie Smith for the ship of fools bookclub, and it her writing kind of blew my mind. I immediately proceeded to read her first two novels, The Autograph Man and White Teeth , both of which I'd also recommend...

I just started Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif, but I'm not sure what i think of it yet

Anonymous said...

Apesar de ter feito uma encomenda recentemente, quem sabe não sou uma das contempladas... :-)
Aqui vão as minhas sugestões:

1) "Life of Pi" de Yann Martel
Simplesmente fabuloso!

2) "Cem anos de solidão" de Gabriel Garcia Márquez.

Boa Viagem e boas Leituras

Andi said...

I recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude, it's a classic.

Anonymous said...

I recommend "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger. One of my favorite books...kind of reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (also a classic.)

AmeliaB said...

I love the covers please add me in the drawing. :-) For my book recomendation I would recomend A Raisin In the Sun It's a wonderful play. Or Pride and Prejudice.

~Amelia

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

I reccommend The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Your book covers are lovely!

Unknown said...

Read my favorite book -- Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss! I still read it again at least once every few years.

Anonymous said...

I've only finished reading "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo yesterday, but I've been recommending this book long before! I knew it had to be a good book when I read snippets from the book online. Well, yesterday I couldn't put the thing down.

I'm warning you. This book isn't a nice light read. This isn't even a pleasant read. It made me cry and it made me angry.

It's about a boy, 20 years old, going off to war (WW1) and getting injured so badly by a shell going off in his trench that he loses his arms, legs and face. He can no longer see, smell, taste, walk, or talk. He's just surviving, but he can no longer experience life. He is utterly alone and throughout the years of solitute, spent in a hospital bed, he is left to contemplate life.

It's an ugly, powerful book, but it really changes your life.

Anonymous said...

muito lindo teu trabalho! eu gostaria que você escrevesse em português....

Sabrina said...

Estão mesmo lindos suas capas para livros!! bjinhos e uma ótima semana Sabrina

Anonymous said...

I love all your work and come to your website almost daily. Even if it is not updated I like to admire your work.
Fiction: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
(it will make me wonder about this one for the rest of my life)
Non Fiction: Classic Knits: 15 Timeless Designs to Knit and Keep Forever by Erika Knight
(even if I don't make anything from it yet, I love just browsing the pictures)

Ursa (ujelovsek@hotmail.com)

Anonymous said...

Estas novas capas são adoráveis! Parabéns pela criatividade e talento que tens vindo a demonstrar.
Aqui vão as minhas sugestões:

- Sem Destino - Imre Kertész
- The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie

analua@portugalmail.pt

Anonymous said...

Read "Inheritance of Loss" a few months ago. Sad to say it was disappointing. Strongly recommend "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry. His prose is really much "readable" than Desai's.In fact all his three books that i have read are excellent. Check him out! =)

Lina said...

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Cause her books are always the best ones, and this one is very special. It's an answer to the Odyssey - Penelope's story instead of Odysseus'. I loved it, it's definitely the best novel I read so far this year.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I love your covers so here goes my suggestions in hope to win one:

- Any book by José Rodrigues dos Santos;

- The Rescue - Nicholas Sparks

- Any Book from Daniel Silva


Sandra Silva

Pitucha said...

Eu recomendo "Les Bienveillantes" de Jonathan Littell. É em francês e não creio que já haja traduções (o livro tem 900 páginas!) Ganhou o Prémio Goncourt e o Prémio da Academia Francesa.
E, mesmo sem ganhar, gostava de te encomendar uma capa das novas.
Beijos

Anonymous said...

Is it to late for me to join?

My book recommendations:

Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Alblom

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I love reading your blog Tania. Thank you for sharing!!

-babs
swapwithbabs at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Vou evitar a graxa ao blog, se o sigo regularmente é óbvio que o adoro não é.. :) Recomendo o livro "The Last Samurai" de Helen DeWitt originalmente de 2000 (E.U.A. e Canadá) em Portugal, "O Último Samurai" editado pela ASA Editores a partir de 2003... Mesmo que não tenha a sorte de ficar com uma maravilhosa capa tua, espero que aprecies a leitura :)

P.S: - Não tem nada a ver com o filme com o Tom Cruise...

Anonymous said...

I'm rereading (for the third time) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and just scrolled below and see that I'm not the only fan. It's an intriguing love story threaded around sci-fi, but very grounded and not "otherworldly."

BTW, thank you for your email and suggestions on Barcelona last month - I have just returned and it was lovely!

Binti Villinger

Jennifer said...

It's probably too late - but what a lovely idea!
my book recommendation: Through the Children's Gate, by Adam Gopnik. It's a series of thoughtful, witty and engaging essays on life in New York City. I have loved it.
Cheers,
Jennifer